R&D Toolkit
  1. Overview
      2. Overview
    1. Introduction
      2.
      1. Recent Updates
        2.
    2. Tools
      3.
      1. Research
        2.
      2. Delivery
        3.
    3. Resources
      4.
      1. R&D
        2.
      2. Websites
        3.
      3. Project Tracking
        4.
      4. Further Resources
        5.
  2. Research
      3. Research Tools
    1. Problem
      2.
      1. Discovery
        2.
      2. Prioritisation
        3.
      3. Project Scoping
        4.
      4. Framing
        5.
    2. Empathise
      3.
      1. Investigate
        2.
      2. User Interview
        3.
      3. User Insights
        4.
      4. Data
        5.
    3. Mapping
      4.
      1. Research Mapping
        2.
      2. User Mapping
        3.
      3. Organisation Mapping
        4.
    4. Synthesis
      5.
      1. Problem Reframing
        2.
      2. Define
        3.
      3. Feature Prioritisation
        4.
  3. Design
      4. Design Tools
    1. Ideation
      2.
      1. Warm Up
        2.
      2. Sketching
        3.
      3. Storyboarding
        4.
      4. Design Studio
        5.
  4. Delivery
      5. Delivery Tools
    1. Agile
      2.
    2. Scrum
      3.
      1. Overview
        2.
      2. Team
        3.
      3. Events
        4.
      4. Artifacts
        5.
      5. Glossary
        6.

marc.tools

A Product R&D Toolkit

Welcome. I'm Marc and this is a Toolkit to create things.
Design Tools    Ideation
Storyboarding

A visually interesting method of building empathy in to the ideation and design process.

Storyboarding can use our persona and literally put them in the scenario where their problem occurs, combined with a solution that results in the a positive outcome.

Section Tools
Concept
Outcome Statement
The Storyboard
AI Storyboarding
  
Ideation    Storyboarding
Tool Info
Category Storyboarding
Updated 05/08/23
Examples   PDF     Miro

Storyboarding is particularly helpful during storyboarding as a means of understanding and emphasising with a real world user problem.

By visually showing the steps a user takes to complete a task, it can help further build understanding in a very simple but quick way - aiding the ideation process during the ideation process.

Pioneered by Disney, Storyboarding pinned images to a board which then allowed for quick editing and changes of the shots during filmmaking - this same idea translates well to product ideation.

By visualising the steps a user would normally go through in order to accomplish a task, the problems they may face, or the potential user experience we are ideating for, we build empathy and understanding.

In this instance, we use it to help fill out the product after the initial ideation concepts / ideas / innovation has taken place - this will then also help inform the various user Flows as we move through the ideation phase.

Further Resources
  Storyboards Help Visualize UX Ideas - Nielsen Norman Group
  The Role Of Storyboarding In UX ideation - Smashing Magazine
  UX Storyboard Creation: A Complete Guide For Beginners - UX Studio Team
  Storymapping: A MacGyver Approach to Content Strategy, Part 2 - UX Matters
  
Ideation    Storyboarding
Tool Info
Category Storyboarding
Updated 05/08/23
Templates   PDF     Miro

An Outcome Statement helps provide context, empathy, and understanding prior to creating our Storyboard.

It helps sum up where we are at after our research and ideation phase, along with a desired outcome.

Firstly we take the persona we are designing for - Situation

Then we add context to the persona's situation - Problem

From here we take our design from the ideation phase - Solution

Finally we can decide on the desired user goal - Outcome

This simpleness of plotting things out this way goes hand in hand with our Storyboard. You can almost start to see the story take shape before even starting.

Further Resources
  Why Choose UX Outcomes over Business Outcome - Cubyts
  Minimize Design Risk by Focusing on Outcomes not Features - Nielsen Norman Group
  
Ideation    Storyboarding
Tool Info
Category Storyboarding
Updated 05/08/23
Templates   PDF     Miro

Storyboarding can come in a number of forms, but is generally a series of Sketches that follows a Story Arc.

Before we create our Storyboard, we must remind ourselves that this is a story, and every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end.

Narrative Arc

The Narrative Arc is a useful tool for plotting the various parts of a story, we can break this down alongside the Outcome Statement;

Situation

  • Exposition: Beginning of the story, introduces characters and setting.
Problem
  • Inciting Incident: Event that sparks the main conflict.
  • Rising Action: Series of events that intensify the story.
  • Crisis: Crucial moment with a major obstacle or decision.
Solution
  • Climax: Peak conflict, determines the outcome.
  • Denouement or Falling Action: Events after the climax, wrapping up loose ends.
Outcome
  • Resolution: Final part, resolves conflicts and provides closure.

The Narrative Arc Visualised



Process

  • Remind ourselves of the User Persona we are designing for by drawing them along with their situation.
  • Write down the Scenario we are designing for.
  • Also take the User/Job Story we are designing for.
  • Take our Outcome Statement as a finals means of reminding ourselves what we storyboarding out
  • Take a pen and paper.
  • Draw out the plot steps or flow that a user would experience through the Story - use the Narrative Arc to help craft this.
  • Visually Create the Storyboard cells following the steps.
  • Add captions to explain each cell along with emoticons.

Notes

  • Include as many or as little cells/scenes are you feel is necessary.
  • The narrative arc is very helpful for crafting the story, use that and remember the various parts of the Outcome Statement.
  • Remember to stick to the core user situation and problem.
  • Illustrate in a way that can be built on.
  • By focusing on these steps, we can keep the product lean.

Further Resources
  Storyboard Template - Nielsen Norman Group
  
Ideation    Storyboarding
Tool Info
Category Storyboarding
Updated 05/08/23
Templates   PDF     Miro

Along with AI Sketching, Storyboarding using AI can help us in different ways. By crafting a prompt in a certain way, it can almost open us up to even further empathy than we might normally imagine.

Like anything else generated by AI, this is purely for inspiration, speed and knowledge gaps, and it should be iterated on and built on to help us along the design path, rather than completely relied on.

AI Services

There are a number of potential services that could help us - all we really need to do is create prompts that generate images that help us to tell our story. However, there are a number of Storyboard specific AI services appearing, which could help us get to where we want to be faster.

There are a number of potential services that could help us - all we really need to do is create prompts that generate images that help us to tell our story. However, there are a number of Storyboard specific AI services appearing, which could help us get to where we want to be faster.

Krock.io - This is generally the front runner for AI storyboarding, but it is a bit more skewed to traditional uses of Storyboarding.

Midjourney - Currently the best AI image generator, with tons of options to refine etc and quite speedy. For individual frames, this is probably the best solution.

Process

  • Remind ourselves of the User Persona we are designing for by drawing them along with their situation.
  • Write down the Scenario we are designing for.
  • Also take the User/Job Story we are designing for.
  • Take our Outcome Statement as a finals means of reminding ourselves what we storyboarding out
  • Take a pen and paper.
  • Draw out the plot steps or flow that a user would experience through the Story - use the Narrative Arc to help craft this.
  • Using our Prompt worksheet as a guide, create the various prompts to generate each cell of our story.
  • Iterate accordingly.
  • Copy and paste the generated images in to the template cells in order.
  • Add captions to explain each cell along with emoticons.

Further Resources
  Storyboarding with AI - Better Marketing
  Storyboard AI Prompts