Storyboarding For Success

Change can be scary. When considering making a change at work, you may think, “What if we implement a new procedure and it doesn’t work?,” or “What if this new business structure doesn’t yield the results we intend it to?”

It’s perfectly normal to have these questions when making any level of change within your organization, but with a little testing, you can answer these questions, make the proper adjustments, and ensure that you see the intended outcomes you wish to accomplish while supporting those directly affected by these changes.

So, how can you test something as abstract as a policy change?

Storyboarding is a great tool that allows you to craft a narrative that demonstrates how policies, services, and any other intangible changes will impact an organization, its workforce, and customers. By crafting a narrative, you can test out your idea through prototyping to receive feedback on your plans, adjust your plans based on feedback, and implement a plan you feel confident will succeed.

Creating a Storyboard

A storyboard has three main segments:

1. Setting the problem
2. Determining how your intended user/audience discovers your policy or service
3. Demonstrating the benefit of your policy or service

Generally, limiting your storyboard to four to six segments gives you enough space to tell the full narrative of the problem you’re looking to solve while keeping your research participants engaged.

Visual depictions of each step of your storyboard helps create immersion to your narrative. Even if you don’t feel like you’re an artist, everyone has the capability to communicate visually! Stick figures are highly encouraged to help bring to life each stage of your storyboard and help your participants understand the impact of your story. Here’s a storyboard template to help you get started.