Storyboards enable a group to summarise and visually project themselves into the user experience. Using this tool, participants of your workshops can quickly test out a solution before deciding to go ahead with it or not.
Based on a UX or Design Thinking approach, storyboards are a form of prototyping.
In the world of cinema, a storyboard is a graphic representation of how each scene will unfold, created before filming commences. It looks a bit like a comic strip, with each panel representing a different shot.
Each participant takes an A4 sheet and folds it in half three times. When they open it up again, there will be eight boxes (they can go over them with a pen to make them clearer).
They have 8 minutes in total to draw an 8-step storyboard of how their solution would work and how it would be implemented by the user.
In small groups
Split the group into smaller sub-groups of 4 to 5 people.
Everyone takes it in turn to explain their storyboard to the other members of their sub-group.
Together, they must choose 5 to 6 key stages to create a new storyboard.
They must explain each stage in detail and give each one a title.
As a whole group
Bring all the sub-groups back together in one large circle:
Ask the sub-groups to take it in turns to explain their storyboard.
Invite the participants to compare their storyboards:
Are some very different from others?
Are there any essential stages that crop up in all of them?
Are there any stages that seem a bit vague to some people?
Finally, ask the participants to piece together a new storyboard, based on those they have seen. This task can be done at the end of the workshop or during a future session.
Feel free to submit the storyboard to the users themselves, or to other stakeholders so that you can refine your idea before moving onto a more refined prototype.
