UX storyboarding hacks
Tips to visualise & storyboard your concepts
Storyboarding or concept visualisation can easily be seen as another one of those “UX checklist” items but the importance of a great storyboard of visualisation is really often understated. If you can’t communicate your concept how can you ever test it? Furthermore, if you over communicate small details when others are unfinished people will notice the inbalance and question the validity of the concept in the first place.
With this in mind and some recent experience on visualising concepts for storyboards for an online community I thought it would be a cool idea to keep track of all of the thoughts, tips and tricks I had and used to ensure the concepts were communicated effectively.
If you are here looking for a more comprehensive “how to” on storyboarding or visualisation I would suggest looking here for some great advice.
Le tips:
1. Make decisions upfront and define user actions steps
I find that it’s usually a great idea to take a step back from concepts you have personally created. Don’t jump in and look for the perfect product. Instead, take a moment to consider the problems and questions your concept is addressing and the actions users will take with your concept to get to the solution.
2. Start by visualising the first and last steps
By visualising the first and last action steps of your concept it becomes easier to frame your storyboard around the positive aspects of your solution without losing track of your original concepts
3. Don’t add features whilst visualising
Adding features to your concept during the visualisation is dangerous as it can lead to unwanted problems further or unaddressed questions. Instead, focus on the problems and questions you have already addressed and place emphasis on your perfect solutions.
4. Create a real life scenario
Framing your visualisation or storyboard in a real life scenario gives your concept a concrete and believable base line in which users are able to understand where or how the product would start to benefit them from. In the design sprint book it’s suggested you use a social media post or an article in a news paper to gain this creditability in your storyboard.
5. Use emotions
I think this is one I am very guilty of missing out. The use of emotions of users that are being visualised using your concept should reflect the emotions you are trying to capture through your concept otherwise all we see is blank faces and it’s missing the opportunity to add more value and understanding to your concept.
6. Focus on the story, not the details
It’s important not to give the visualisation or storyboard not too much detail. It’s often the case that when an early concept is given a bit much detail questions that are not important to that stage of the project arise in the way or more important questions that need to be answered. Instead, focus on telling the story and communicating the value of the concept. Details can always be figured out later.
7. The final result
The final result of any visualisation or storyboard should be a comprehensive visualisation where the user isn’t overwhelmed with details but confident that the action steps your concept needs are credible and life like.
Thanks for reading — I’m currently a user experience intern at Bosch Power Tools and an Industrial Design student at Loughborough University. Feel free to get in touch or check out my website.
