Design Technique 2: Storyboards
Every picture tells a story. The second design technique which comes to mind is the humble old storyboard. We all have an intuitive idea about how these work. There are probably a number of ways you can go about these – and names for them – but in their most basic form you should be drawing something which represent pages PLUS the things that go on them AND how they link relative to each other. A flow diagram.
In the past I have used the storyboard approach to list all of the assets, for example, each page is going to need such as audio files, images and text. This helps develop an overview of what the site will be as well as creating an itinerary of what the site will contain. It provides a high level overview of how the site is going to be stitched together in regards to both information and navigation.
Another approach to storyboarding that I like is to view them more in the traditional sense you would associate with comics. Track where you expect a user to go – if they land on the site’s about page does it make sense in its own context? Include fictitious Martha’s dialogue as she goes if you like – there really aren’t any set in stone rules. There are many ways to skin a cat I’m told.
I’m sure there are more ways to storyboard than I’ve mentioned here. I just wanted to open your eyes to the possibilities. The information artefacts you develop during your work will sometimes raise the eyebrows of your clients but give this a go. Process is an important part of achieving a well considered design solution.
