Find out what a storyboard in web design accomplishes in this beginner’s guide.
Storyboarding is often associated with the film industry. You might envision the brilliant and creative minds of your favorite writers, producers, and artists hunched over physical storyboards, sharing their vision for an upcoming film project, and rightly so. Throughout history, filmmakers have used storyboards to outline the projected storyline of a film before beginning the costly process of filming and production. This helps ensure that everyone is on board for the overall look and feel of the film prior to investing money into the film. It also allows for ultimate collaboration. Everyone can contribute ideas before anything is finalized.
However, today, storyboarding is used by more than just filmmakers. Website designers and developers also use storyboards to explain a project proposal.
If you are considering a revamp of your company’s website, it can be helpful to understand what a website storyboard is and how a storyboard design is used in the process of designing a website. By gaining insights into storyboard design, you can collaborate with your design team, ensuring that the website you pay for is the perfect reflection of your needs.
What is a storyboard?
A storyboard is a simple representation of a design project. Any designer can use storyboards, including those working in cinema, fashion, design, and digital development. What is a storyboard in web design specifically? A storyboard website design is a quick digital representation of how a website will look and act.
There are numerous elements in a storyboard design, and the specific style of the storyboard your designer presents to you will depend on their own processes. Usually, a storyboard will be provided to you after an initial meeting during which you have discussed the goals of your website. A designer will take this information and mock-up a rough design of the look and feel of your website.
Throughout the design process, you’ll probably receive updated iterations of the storyboard, reflecting requested changes and improved workflows. Usually, a storyboard is presented in a digital format. It might be an interactive, click-through experience or a static presentation.
Narrow your search for a web design company with our list of companies in the following areas:
When and why do you need a storyboard?
If you are paying to have a new website developed, you might wonder when and why you would need a storyboard designed for your business. Ideally, you should request a storyboard at the earliest stages of website design. The purpose of a storyboard is to allow you to provide input prior to the point at which designers and developers start working on the detailed coding of your website. This can help make the process of designing your website more cohesive.
A storyboard also demonstrates the professional level of the team with which you are working. If a web designer is simply providing you with a templated website design, they won’t need to spend time pouring over a storyboard with you. However, if they are customizing a website specifically for your business, a storyboard is a powerful method for making sure that all parties are on the same page.
If your web designer has outlined a storyboard as part of the website design process, make sure that you set up a meeting with all team members that might have important input on the design of your website. Ideally, this should include not only business leadership but also representatives from your marketing, sales, products, and customer service teams. This can help ensure that all customer and employee needs are met.
Related Reading: Benefits of Hiring a Website Designer
What elements make up a storyboard?
As you sit down to review a website storyboard, it can be helpful to know what to anticipate from the design process. This will allow you to prepare notes and think through your business’s specific needs ahead of time. Make sure to always voice questions or concerns as early as possible. This will allow your design team to make tweaks before they spend too much time designing and coding your website.
A basic format
A storyboard will usually begin with a proposal of the basic format of your website. Often, this format is represented using simple box and rectangular elements. Your web design team will use this as a baseline foundation for the overall look and feel of your website.
Remember, when you first see the basic format of your website storyboard, don’t get caught up in the details. Visual elements will be added later, which will include business-specific items. During this early stage, the goal is simply to gain an understanding of what type of format you prefer for your website design.
A wireframe
In most cases, as your web design team puts together a more robust understanding of your business goals for your website, they will present you with a wireframe that outlines more details about the format and flow of your website. Often, a wireframe will be interactive, allowing you to click through items and understand the proposed navigation of your website.
A wireframe often includes information about the menus on your website and gives you a better understanding of how much space each element on your website will take up.
For example, if you have requested a contact form on your home page, a wireframe would showcase the exact proposed location of the contact form on each page.
Walking through wireframes is one of the first glimpses of your new website design. For this reason, make sure you take ample time to consider how each element looks in relation to the webpage. If you don’t like where something is located, this is the perfect time to ask about other options.
An example of proposed website behavior
In addition to using wireframes to help storyboard your website, a designer will often work with their user experience (UX) team to determine the proposed behavior of the website. This portion of the storyboard will showcase how they expect a user to interact with your website.
In many cases, you will explore multiple avenues that a user might take. This portion of the storyboard may be presented in segments or may allow you to click through a workflow.
As you walk through how a website is expected to behave, you’ll be looking to ensure that the navigation encourages visitors to take your desired actions. For example, if your business is redesigning your website to increase the number of leads who sign up for a consultation, you’ll want to pay attention to how the proposed behavior of the website will work to lead a customer to take that action.
Content concepts
An important part of any website design is how content and information are provided to visitors. A quality web designer should understand how to capture the attention of a reader and present content in a way that is easy to digest.
While a website storyboard won’t show you the actual copy and images that will be used on your website, it will give you an idea of how much information your website designer plans to include on each page. Pay attention to where text boxes will be added and how the story of your brand will be told.
Tips for making your website design a success
Now that you know how to define a storyboard in relation to website design, you are better equipped to provide input throughout the process. Investing in a website redesign can be incredibly important for improving your online presence. However, it can be hard to know how to make the redesign a success when you are not an expert in website design. As you work with a professional web design team through the storyboard process, use these tips to make your project a success:
Start by defining your goal: A website design should directly reflect what your business seeks to accomplish. Whether you are building a new website from scratch or hiring a team to revamp an existing site, make sure to articulate clearly why your brand needs a new design. With this clear goal in mind, your web team will know better how to achieve your desired result.
Speak up early and often: During the storyboard stage, don’t hesitate to provide your input. Whether you are concerned about a design element or are enthused about a particular component, feedback will help drive the project in the right direction.
Listen to professional advice: Sometimes, the website you first envisioned isn’t actually the best design to accomplish your goals. Web designers and developers should bring professional experience to the table and can often provide you with data-driven insights that might change your initial strategy.
Compare your options: Before you choose a web design company to work with, make sure you take ample time to compare different options. By reading online reviews, exploring company summaries, and understanding what services a company offers, you can make the best decision to fit your brand’s specific needs.
Learn more about web design
While tackling a website design project can feel overwhelming when it is out of your normal wheelhouse, using a storyboard can help make the design process more digestible. Be sure to always ask a team you hire upfront whether or not they will provide you with the chance to review designs through a storyboard format.
Thinking about hiring a web design company to help your business set up a brand advocacy program? Browse our list of top branding firms, and learn more about their services in our hiring guide.