Utilizing Storyboards To Understand The Users World By Jenna Erickson, Codal Inc
____________________________________________________________ A lot of research and time goes into the final design that an end user sees. Before all of the pretty colors and typography is added to a website or application, there is an entire user experience process, where your UX design agency begins to understanding goals, gather requirements, and conduct research, to better understand the user, and to design with data and research in mind. Different UX design companies will use different research techniques, such as interviews and surveys, contextual inquiry, and group workshops. Then, the UX designer will take this data and summarize their research findings into user stories or user flows. This helps the team communicate their findings and solutions to the team, along with wireframes and personas. Personas are typically created to help the designers understanding who they are designing for, and why, and wireframes help layout the application or website, before adding the graphical aspects. So, where do storyboards come into play? What are storyboards and why should you use them? A storyboard is a graphical, linear set of illustrations to portray an entire story of a user completing a task. Stories are one of the most effective and powerful ways of delivering information. In user experience design services, a storyboard is a visual tool that will predict and explore the user’s interactions with the platform, to help understand the flow of someone's interaction with product over a given time.
(Source) Why storyboards? Well, a storyboard forces the designer to think about the user flow, prioritize what is important, and allows a team to work together to create a very clear picture of what is being designed, and how a user will use it. It also helps a designer put real people at the heart of the overall UX process. When dealing with data, research and analytics, it can be difficult to put a human face on a handful of numbers. However, storyboards help put the user first. How to get started with a storyboard Simply start with a pen and paper, and start mapping out the most simple interactions. You can then break up your story into individual moments, and decisions that the user will make. If your mobile app development agency is building a mobile app to help consumers diagnose a sickness, the first step might be that consumer feeling sick and staying in bed all day. After you create those first
interactions, start adding emotion into the story. How does the user feel when they find the app and create an account? Next, every step, or interaction, can become a frame, emphasizing every moment and the emotions that are felt at that point. At this point, you can start adding visuals to to bring the story to life. After you have your first draft storyboard, start adding in images and graphics, or even just sketches. Pass this along to your team, and start collaborating on the story. Your UX company or mobile app design company may find interactions that were either missed, our thought of as less-important as it should be. Your storyboard doesn't have to be pixel perfect, it just has to tell the story of your user. Once you have the story complete, you will be much more prepared when putting together the wireframes and overall flow of the platform. Looking for extra assistance with your user experience? Chat with the experts at Codal!
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