Storybored? Storyboard!
Have you ever wondered, why do we even storyboard as designers? Well, imagine you could have a crystal ball and see the future. Storyboarding is your crystal ball because it can be seen as a way to visualize and understand other people’s daily lives and routines. Storyboarding provides a way to learn about other cultures and demographics and to deeply understand your target persona.
Take Disney for example, which is amazing at storyboarding and storytelling. Storyboarding is a visual tool that allows you to create a story and draw out a narrative that threads different ideas together. Similar to Disney studios, you can learn how to have 4 key features implemented in your design. The first thing you need to do is visualize! Images can portray what is sometimes inexplicable with words. Second is memorability, stories are proven to be 22 times more memorable than simple words. Next, empathy! Once you can put yourself in the character’s shoes, you can relate more to the specific situation. Finally, engagement shows how and where attention can be placed on a specific narrative. Similarly, when creating a product think about the story you want to share and the takeaway message that you want to convey! Remember that the storyboarding process is human-centered, iterative, and will require feedback from the team. Keep in mind that any great story has a character and a scene that go through a series of events, where there is a beginning, middle, and end. Keep using ethos, pathos, and logos when sharing a message! Also, use arrows, transition words that announce what’s coming up next. Furthermore, be authentic, clear, use real life examples, keep it simple, use emotions and label the feelings. At the end, showcase a solution to the problem, and share your story!
Clear user personas are straightforward. Think about the user, what you need to accomplish, and why. Different personas will guide to different intentions when designing, because each person ultimately has a different lifestyle and priorities. The user personas are created after conducting interviews and after doing market research. The four types of personas are goal-directed, role based, engaging, and fictional. There are also 10 easy steps you can use to create a persona. The first is to collect data and knowledge about the user. Second is to form a hypothesis, like the scientific method. Third is to accept or reject the hypothesis. Fourth is to decide how many user personas to create, then describe their needs, limitations, and desires. Give each persona a name, create a 1–2 page description of each. Later, prepare situations for each persona, then involve the project participants. Later share the knowledge, have everyone prepare situations where the persona would perform, and finally iterate!
