At last week's workshop with Charity Learning, we talked about storyboarding courses and the formats available to designers.
It doesn't matter at all how designers choose to write and storyboard courses. The takeaway is that most designers are passionate about the way they approach storyboarding... whether it's in Word, PowerPoint, or Storyline.
It's probably no surprise that Storyline was a hot topic for prototyping ideas, but there was even more interest in using it as a storyboarding and authoring tool.
If you outline, write, and author your courses in Storyline, can you share a little about your process?
After seeking a proper format that would allow me to work with a Storyboard and also provide me with the ability to create rapid prototyping without working on multiple documents. I came up with a solution that takes only a few minutes and creates a mash-up of the best of both worlds.
This solution involves adding a couple of boxes and doing one modification to the canvas (story size) at the beginning of the project and reversing it at the end of the project. This would work with a template or just by simply copying and pasting a few boxes.
You can customize it to use as many boxes as you want, and you could even add some at the bottom or the top (not both).
Remember that the advantage of this is that at the end with a couple of clicks your project is ready to export. So you are basically working on your project and the storyboard boxes are discarded at the end or they can stay there for future reference but they won't get published.
Here is a shot of the published Word document that will serve me as storyboard, and I am attaching the specific instructions on how to proceed.
Like many of you, I've been mashing together a few different tools and techniques to create a storyboard that would work for e-learning. I had a hard time finding not only an appropriate storyboard, but also project plans and quality assurance testing for my e-leaning courses.
I finally created my own and am sharing it with all of you. Follow this link and download a storyboard created specifically for e-learning!
Wow - what a great community! I'm a new developer and absolutely love coming here to learn from all of you pros.
I've bounced around the idea of storyboarding and as much as I like it (because I'm a Type A planner), I also see that when I'm actually building the course, elements have changed, new images have been sent, etc.
For those that storyboard all the time, how do you stick to the storyboard once you're actually building the course? And - how does the client take the changes?
Wow - what a great community! I'm a new developer and absolutely love coming here to learn from all of you pros.
I've bounced around the idea of storyboarding and as much as I like it (because I'm a Type A planner), I also see that when I'm actually building the course, elements have changed, new images have been sent, etc.
For those that storyboard all the time, how do you stick to the storyboard once you're actually building the course? And - how does the client take the changes?
Katie
I seldom if ever "stick" to it.
All of my projects tend to evolve as we try different concepts, and that's the way I sell the experience with the client.
Look at how a piece of music or a picture is created crossings out, amends, objects that are scrubbed and re-painted.
I guess you have to practice being a"Type-A Planner" can also be flexible
Like Bruce, I'm more of a rapid prototype person as well. This is how I am with most things. Elearning, woodworking, inventions, etc. I find doing a quick prototype alerts me to potential issues sooner and gives me a better understanding how the end result may come together and how long the project will be. To each their own I guess.
I enjoyed reading the different approaches that people have. It reminds me how versatile this software is.
I have used word to storyboard since the millenium began. Lately, PPT is more popular. esp. with the client, not so with the developer. PPT is good for articulate products as it allows you to migrate it into storyline or any other product. When I script interactions, esp, if someone else is developing, I test the interaction in storyline as dummy if I am not clear about it.
I prefer the text to be scripted in a separate word document. Then a copy paste is good provided that the font issues can be addressed. Sometimes, if it doesn't paste properly and alignment is always a concern, then I have to write it directly in storyline.
My storyboard also contains screen outline for layout and graphics. I research photo graphics or reference graphics and paste the exact icon size into my word or ppt file. In ppt, I give placement detail of the graphic.
PPT allows me to create a mock up for the course.
I prefer creating the screen first and then pasting the text. In fact, it's the last element that I add.
Apologies that the link isn't active anymore. That said, Tim Slade has shared some updated versions of his storyboard templates on his website that you can download here.
34 Replies
After seeking a proper format that would allow me to work with a Storyboard and also provide me with the ability to create rapid prototyping without working on multiple documents. I came up with a solution that takes only a few minutes and creates a mash-up of the best of both worlds.
This solution involves adding a couple of boxes and doing one modification to the canvas (story size) at the beginning of the project and reversing it at the end of the project. This would work with a template or just by simply copying and pasting a few boxes.
You can customize it to use as many boxes as you want, and you could even add some at the bottom or the top (not both).
Remember that the advantage of this is that at the end with a couple of clicks your project is ready to export. So you are basically working on your project and the storyboard boxes are discarded at the end or they can stay there for future reference but they won't get published.
Here is a shot of the published Word document that will serve me as storyboard, and I am attaching the specific instructions on how to proceed.
Like many of you, I've been mashing together a few different tools and techniques to create a storyboard that would work for e-learning. I had a hard time finding not only an appropriate storyboard, but also project plans and quality assurance testing for my e-leaning courses.
I finally created my own and am sharing it with all of you. Follow this link and download a storyboard created specifically for e-learning!
www.elearningstoreboards.com/articulate48
I get so many terrific ideas from the E-Learning Heroes blogs, newsletters, and community. I'm grateful to all of you for your contributions!
Rebecca
elearningstoreboards.com
Wow - what a great community! I'm a new developer and absolutely love coming here to learn from all of you pros.
I've bounced around the idea of storyboarding and as much as I like it (because I'm a Type A planner), I also see that when I'm actually building the course, elements have changed, new images have been sent, etc.
For those that storyboard all the time, how do you stick to the storyboard once you're actually building the course? And - how does the client take the changes?
Katie
I seldom if ever "stick" to it.
All of my projects tend to evolve as we try different concepts, and that's the way I sell the experience with the client.
Look at how a piece of music or a picture is created crossings out, amends, objects that are scrubbed and re-painted.
I guess you have to practice being a"Type-A Planner" can also be flexible
Like Bruce, I'm more of a rapid prototype person as well. This is how I am with most things. Elearning, woodworking, inventions, etc. I find doing a quick prototype alerts me to potential issues sooner and gives me a better understanding how the end result may come together and how long the project will be. To each their own I guess.
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I enjoyed reading the different approaches that people have. It reminds me how versatile this software is.
I have used word to storyboard since the millenium began. Lately, PPT is more popular. esp. with the client, not so with the developer. PPT is good for articulate products as it allows you to migrate it into storyline or any other product. When I script interactions, esp, if someone else is developing, I test the interaction in storyline as dummy if I am not clear about it.
I prefer the text to be scripted in a separate word document. Then a copy paste is good provided that the font issues can be addressed. Sometimes, if it doesn't paste properly and alignment is always a concern, then I have to write it directly in storyline.
My storyboard also contains screen outline for layout and graphics. I research photo graphics or reference graphics and paste the exact icon size into my word or ppt file. In ppt, I give placement detail of the graphic.
PPT allows me to create a mock up for the course.
I prefer creating the screen first and then pasting the text. In fact, it's the last element that I add.
This post was removed by the author
Hi Tim, Helpful answer. The link to the standard template is not working anymore. Could you please update it? Most appreciated! Best, Stef
Hi Stefaniada,
Apologies that the link isn't active anymore. That said, Tim Slade has shared some updated versions of his storyboard templates on his website that you can download here.