A storyboard is a linear sequence of illustrations used in animation to develop a broader story. A storyboard process is now used also in business to understand and map customers’ experience and enable the growth of the company using that process.
Aspect
Explanation
Concept Overview
Storyboarding is a visual storytelling technique used in various fields, including film and video production, animation, user experience (UX) design, software development, and more. It involves creating a sequence of illustrations or images to represent key scenes, actions, or interactions in a narrative. Storyboards serve as a visual blueprint that helps communicate ideas, plan, and guide the development process.
Key Principles
Storyboarding is guided by several key principles: 1. Visual Representation: It uses images or drawings to convey information and capture the essence of a scene or interaction. 2. Sequence: Storyboards present events or actions in a chronological order to create a coherent narrative. 3. Clarity: They aim to communicate ideas and concepts clearly and concisely. 4. Feedback: Storyboards can be used to gather feedback and make revisions before actual production or development begins. 5. Collaboration: They facilitate collaboration among team members by providing a common visual reference.
Process
The process of creating storyboards typically includes the following steps: 1. Define the Purpose: Clearly define the purpose and objectives of the storyboard. 2. Identify Key Scenes: Determine the key scenes, actions, or interactions that need to be visualized. 3. Create Sketches or Illustrations: Create simple sketches, drawings, or images for each scene. 4. Sequence: Arrange the images in chronological order to create a storyline. 5. Add Annotations: Include text or annotations to describe actions, dialogues, or other important details. 6. Review and Revise: Gather feedback and make necessary revisions to improve clarity and effectiveness.
Applications
Storyboarding is applied in various fields: 1. Film and Animation: It helps plan shots, camera angles, and scene transitions. 2. UX and Web Design: It visualizes user journeys, interactions, and interfaces. 3. Software Development: It can be used to plan user stories and workflows. 4. Marketing and Advertising: It helps create story-driven campaigns and advertisements. 5. Education: It aids in presenting concepts and processes visually in educational materials.
Benefits
Implementing Storyboarding offers several benefits: 1. Visualization: It provides a visual representation of complex ideas and narratives. 2. Clarity: It helps teams and stakeholders understand and align on the intended vision. 3. Efficiency: It streamlines planning and development by reducing ambiguity. 4. Creativity: It encourages creative thinking and exploration of different ideas. 5. Collaboration: It facilitates collaboration among team members with different roles and perspectives.
Challenges and Risks
Challenges in Storyboarding include the need for artistic skills (in some cases), the potential for misinterpretation if not done clearly, and the time required to create detailed storyboards. It’s important to strike a balance between detail and simplicity.
Tools and Techniques
Various tools and techniques support Storyboarding, including pencil and paper, digital drawing software (e.g., Adobe Illustrator, Procreate), storyboard software, and even sticky notes for low-fidelity UX storyboarding. The choice of tools depends on the context and desired level of detail.
Simply put a storyboard is a sequence of illustrations whose aim is to visualize the critical moments of a whole story.
That isn’t a new tool in animation. Indeed storyboarding was popularized by Walt Disney Studios during the 1930s.
Storyboarding is critical in animation as it enables to develop of the broader story.
Indeed, the developers of content would use storyboarding as an inexpensive way to build content to see if it worked before doing the entire production.
Thus, storyboarding, as used in animation, has a few key elements that make it so useful:
An inexpensive way to visualize a story before it gets developed in full.
Visualize a whole story with a minimum amount of information.
A quick and dynamic approach to visualize an entire story.
The ability to capture the critical emotions at each sequence.
A way to present and pitch a story before it could get produced.
Storyboarding, which has become a best practice and process in the movie industry, is now also an essential process in business; let me show you why.
Storyboarding in business can help in many other cases:
In this case, we’ll look at how Airbnb has been using storyboarding to uncover hidden patterns for its customers that enabled the further platform scale.
Creating a great customer experience is the highest priority at Airbnb and something that we’ve made a big part of our culture.
Storyboarding then helped Airbnb executives and employees to understand its customers deeply.
Empathy and being able to feel the emotions and moods of customers throughout the travel experience enabled Airbnb to map it at best.
Map the customer journey
One thing that’s really helped is a storyboard we created that depicts the different steps someone goes through from the time she first hears about Airbnb to the time she leaves post-visit feedback. We have 15 pictures that cover the guest journey and 15 more that show the journey for the host.
Nathan Blecharczyk also pointed out how this storyboarding process needs to be done from end-to-end.
From the customer first hears about your product and service up to the time she/he has consumed it.
Understand where you’re missing out
What the storyboard made clear is that we were missing a big part of the picture—the offline experience—that’s an even more meaningful part of using Airbnb than booking a property.
Thus, this process enables the company to uncover steps you were missing out on.
Each of those steps you were not covering or providing value will become an essential ingredient for a great customer experience.
However, it is essential not to get bogged down in too many details.
Select only the meaningful moments
We started brainstorming what our storyboard would look like. We started with a list of many, many moments, grouped like ones together and refined them down into a concise set. If you have too many moments on your storyboard, it’s worthless. Fifteen seemed comprehensive yet manageable.
As pointed out by Nathan Blecharczyk on the Sequoia blog, it is crucial to map at first only the most significant moments.
That makes the process manageable and actionable.
For instance, Airbnb had mapped fifteen key moments in its storyboards.
Build a roadmap around those pivotal moments
We then had a roadmap for figuring out what a customer expects in each of those situations, what we were doing to meet those expectations and where we had an opportunity to create a “wow” moment.
Once those key moments get uncovered, it’s time to offer a great customer experience by providing value to your customers in those faces.
Airbnb likes to define those moments when the value is provided at best as a “wow” moment.
Thus, it has to be turned into a product roadmap.
Uncover the gaps and fill them up with a “wow” experience
We noticed a lot of gaps. It became our number one priority to fix those areas where we weren’t doing what the customer expected of us.
What’s a valuable “wow” moment?
Imagine in Airbnb’s case the case of a guest arriving at a host’s house and, without even knocking on the door, finding the guest with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the arrival of the guest (this is an exaggerated example as some people might not like this welcome).
But the point is the storyboard enables you to develop a deeper bond with a customer, to improve the experience at each potential step.
Airbnb neighborhood guides case study
One example of one of the projects that Airbnb has implemented as a consequence of using storyboards is the “neighborhoods guides” section available on the platform.
With storyboards, Airbnb understood all the questions travelers had before, during, and after traveling.
Therefore, Airbnb came up with the neighborhoods guides:
So that for each city, people could find answers to questions related to the things to do in the city.
And also look at all the possible things to do in each neighborhood.
This helped Airbnb guests to find all the travel-related answers they might have before reserving the trip.
Those guides are so granular to unlock critical information for each neighborhood, almost like you had a local, giving you all the suggestions you needed to have a great trip:
Key takeaways
Disney popularized storyboards in the 1930s to develop stories before the production of movies
Storyboards became a best practice in the movie industry world as a way to craft compelling stories before producing expensive movies
Now storyboards get used in business for several purposes. Airbnb used it to enhance customers’ experience
During Christmas vacation back in 2011, Chesky, Airbnb co-founder found out about the storyboarding technique, and he implemented it within the company to map the three key processes (host, guest, and hiring process) for Airbnb.
Those storyboards got transformed in actions within the service. One example is the “neighborhood guides” that Airbnb developed to give all travel-related answers to its users.
Case Studies
Film and Animation – Pixar Studios:
Case Study: Pixar is renowned for its use of storyboarding in the animation industry. They create detailed storyboards for their films, such as “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo,” to plan and visualize each scene.
Description: Storyboards serve as a blueprint for animators, helping them understand the sequence of shots, camera angles, and character movements. Pixar’s attention to detail in storyboarding contributes to the success and quality of their films.
Implications: Storyboarding is crucial for maintaining consistency and visual storytelling in animation projects.
Actions: Other animation studios can adopt similar meticulous storyboarding practices to enhance the quality of their projects.
Advertising – Coca-Cola “Share a Coke” Campaign:
Case Study: Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign featured personalized labels with people’s names. Before launching, the marketing team used storyboards to visualize how the campaign would unfold across various media channels.
Description: Storyboards helped the team plan TV commercials, social media posts, and in-store displays. They could ensure a consistent and emotionally engaging narrative across all touchpoints.
Implications: Effective storyboarding can help marketers create compelling and unified campaigns that resonate with customers.
Actions: Other companies can employ storyboarding to maintain consistency in branding and messaging across various marketing channels.
Video Game Development – Ubisoft:
Case Study: Ubisoft, a leading video game developer, uses storyboarding to map out game narratives and gameplay sequences for titles like “Assassin’s Creed” and “Far Cry.”
Description: Storyboarding assists game designers in visualizing levels, character interactions, and cinematic sequences. It guides the development process and ensures a coherent player experience.
Implications: Storyboarding is essential in the gaming industry to align the game’s storytelling with gameplay mechanics.
Actions: Game development studios can adopt effective storyboarding techniques to create immersive and cohesive gaming experiences.
Product Design – Apple:
Case Study: Apple incorporates storyboarding in its product design process. For example, when developing the user interface for the iPhone, Apple’s design team used storyboards to envision user interactions and experiences.
Description: Storyboards help designers anticipate how users will navigate and interact with products. They allow designers to iterate and refine interfaces before implementation.
Implications: Storyboarding enhances the user-centered design process and ensures user-friendly products.
Actions: Design-driven companies can incorporate storyboarding into their product development workflows to create intuitive and visually appealing user experiences.
Training and Education – eLearning Courses:
Case Study: Many eLearning course creators use storyboards to plan and structure their online courses. They outline the course content, assessments, and multimedia elements.
Description: Storyboarding is instrumental in designing effective eLearning modules. It helps creators organize content, align it with learning objectives, and maintain engagement.
Implications: Storyboarding supports the development of engaging and pedagogically sound eLearning materials.
Actions: Organizations and educators can leverage storyboarding to create more effective and interactive online learning experiences.
Key Highlights
Introduction to Storyboarding:
Storyboarding is a sequence of illustrations used to visualize critical moments of a story or process.
It originated in animation, popularized by Walt Disney Studios in the 1930s.
Storyboarding helps in developing and testing content before full production.
Storyboarding in Animation:
Used as an inexpensive way to visualize a story before full development.
Visualizes the story with minimal information, capturing emotions and critical moments.
Used for pitching and presenting story ideas.
Importance of Storyboarding in Business:
Walt Disney’s use of storyboarding aligned the organization around a vision.
Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky learned about storyboarding from Disney’s biography.
Storyboarding helps uncover hidden patterns and deeply understand customer experiences.
Empathy and Customer Mapping:
Storyboarding facilitates empathy and understanding of customer emotions.
Mapping the customer journey helps identify critical steps and emotions.
Uncovering Missed Steps:
Storyboarding reveals steps that might be missing in the customer experience.
Uncovered steps become essential for delivering a great customer experience.
Selecting Key Moments:
Start by mapping only the most significant moments to make the process manageable.
Airbnb initially mapped fifteen key moments in their storyboards.
Creating a Roadmap:
Develop a roadmap to meet customer expectations and create “wow” moments.
Turn valuable “wow” moments into actionable steps.
Filling Gaps with “Wow” Experiences:
Storyboarding helps uncover gaps in the customer experience.
“Wow” experiences deepen customer bonds and improve each step.
Airbnb’s Neighborhood Guides:
Airbnb implemented projects based on storyboards, such as “neighborhood guides.”
These guides offer answers to travelers’ questions and suggestions for each neighborhood.
The guides enhance Airbnb guests’ travel experiences and provide valuable local insights.
Related Frameworks
Description
When to Apply
User Stories
– Brief, informal descriptions of a software feature or requirement, typically written from the perspective of an end user. User Stories complement Storyboarding by providing lightweight narratives that capture specific functionality or behavior.
– When gathering requirements and defining features for Agile software development projects. – Using User Stories to articulate user needs, prioritize features, and guide iterative development effectively.
Use Case Modeling
– A technique for capturing and documenting system requirements from the perspective of end users or actors. Use Case Modeling complements Storyboarding by providing a structured approach to defining system functionality and behavior through use cases and scenarios.
– When modeling system requirements, interactions, and behaviors from a user-centric perspective. – Developing Use Case Models to define system scope, identify actors, and describe functional requirements effectively.
Wireframing
– A visual representation of a user interface design, showing the layout, structure, and functionality of a software application or website. Wireframing complements Storyboarding by providing detailed mockups or prototypes of individual screens or pages within a storyboard sequence.
– When designing user interfaces, workflows, or user interactions for software applications or websites. – Creating Wireframes to visualize and iterate on screen layouts, navigation paths, and user interactions effectively.
Prototyping
– The creation of functional or interactive models of a software system or product to explore, evaluate, and validate design ideas. Prototyping complements Storyboarding by providing tangible representations of storyboarded concepts or interactions for user testing and feedback.
– When validating design concepts, gathering user feedback, or exploring alternative solutions. – Developing Prototypes to simulate user interactions, demonstrate functionality, and refine design decisions effectively.
Scenarios
– Detailed narratives that describe how users interact with a system or product to accomplish specific tasks or goals. Scenarios complement Storyboarding by providing contextual information and user motivations for the events depicted in a storyboard sequence.
– When designing user experiences, user flows, or product interactions. – Writing Scenarios to provide context, motivation, and user goals for storyboarded events and interactions effectively.
Persona Development
– The creation of fictional characters or personas that represent different user types, demographics, or behaviors. Persona Development complements Storyboarding by providing insights into the needs, preferences, and behaviors of target users depicted in storyboard sequences.
– When designing products, services, or user experiences for specific user groups or demographics. – Developing Personas to empathize with users, prioritize features, and inform design decisions effectively.
Task Analysis
– The process of breaking down complex tasks or processes into smaller, more manageable steps or actions. Task Analysis complements Storyboarding by providing a structured approach to understanding the sequence of actions and decisions depicted in a storyboarded interaction.
– When designing user interfaces, workflows, or user interactions for software applications or systems. – Conducting Task Analysis to identify user goals, actions, and decision points depicted in storyboard sequences effectively.
Storyboard Prototyping
– A method for creating low-fidelity prototypes of storyboard sequences using simple sketches or drawings. Storyboard Prototyping allows designers to quickly explore and iterate on different storyboard concepts before creating detailed storyboards or prototypes.
– When exploring design ideas, visualizing user interactions, or gathering feedback on storyboard concepts. – Using Storyboard Prototyping to rapidly iterate on storyboard sequences, refine interactions, and validate design decisions effectively.
Affinity Diagramming
– A technique for organizing and synthesizing large amounts of qualitative data or ideas into meaningful categories or themes. Affinity Diagramming complements Storyboarding by helping teams identify common patterns, insights, or opportunities across storyboarded interactions.
– When analyzing user research findings, brainstorming ideas, or synthesizing design insights. – Using Affinity Diagramming to identify themes, insights, or design opportunities depicted in storyboard sequences effectively.
Design Thinking
– A human-centered approach to innovation and problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iterative prototyping. Design Thinking complements Storyboarding by providing a structured framework for understanding user needs, generating ideas, and testing solutions iteratively.
– When tackling complex problems, exploring new opportunities, or designing innovative solutions. – Applying Design Thinking methods to empathize with users, define problems, ideate solutions, and prototype concepts depicted in storyboard sequences effectively.
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Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
