Does your website design feel like it lacks engagement? Do you find yourself struggling to make a connection with your audience? You’re not alone. In fact, there might be many reasons why people are getting bored with your website which is leading to lower conversion rates.
One way that web designers can increase their site’s engagement level is by incorporating storyboards in their designs. Read this article till the end for information about how storyboards work and what benefits they offer.
What is a storyboard?
A storyboard is a perfect tool for both professionals and newbies to use as a simple blueprint of their web project. It can be used to display all your elements in one place, giving you an idea of what needs more work or just doesn’t fit with how you envisioned it at first glance.
Storyboarding has been used in the entertainment industry for decades. Web designers are now using it to create more engaging websites! With a storyboard, you can get an idea of how a website visitor will see each page of your website and how they will interact with it.
How can storyboards help your website design?
- It serves as your all-inclusive outline of the design approach. The storyboard is a tool to help you figure out what the website will look like to visitors and how they will interact with it.
- A storyboard is a visual representation of the entire design, and it lays out all the little pieces that go into your work. It helps you see what kind of images, videos or text will be needed to bring your ideas to life!
- The storyboard provides an excellent demonstration of the navigational architecture and information flow of a website. You’ll see how each page will work together to provide a better user experience for all visitors.
When to use storyboard in your web design?
In most scenarios, the storyboard is prepared in the initial stages of the web design process. It helps designers and developers understand how their site will look and feel before it gets to finalising design or copywriting decisions.
Storyboards serve both creative professionals who need inspiration and technical ones who want to streamline development processes with sketches representing what they have in mind without committing until everything has been finalised.
What are the different types of storyboards in website designing?
Storyboards in website designing are different from the ones used in other industries. These storyboards describe each page and what is happening, while those for movies typically show a sequence of shots that tell a narrative together. According to Washington State University, there are three types of storyboards:
- Presentation Storyboard: The presentation storyboard is an initial design document that demonstrates the websites visual goals and the design model. This storyboard can also be utilised as a project management tool to create an evaluation plan.
- Production Storyboard: We can all appreciate a well-designed house. But what about web pages? A production storyboard is a document that provides information about graphics, text, video and sound on the Web site. It contains detailed instructions for each type of content to create an attractive layout with ease. This blueprint also includes details such as fonts, size and color schemes that will be used throughout the website design process.
- Maintenance Storyboard: Imagine your Web site as an apartment building. A maintenance storyboard is like a checklist for which parts of the apartment will need to be updated or maintained and what areas should stay alone so that only professionals can handle them. This helps keep you from accidentally breaking anything expensive!
What should a storyboard for your website contain?
To design a creative and effective storyboard for your website, you do not need to be a graphic designer or technical person. The aim is to create a storyboard that defines or identifies all the elements you will use in your website and arrange them to make sense from an end-user or visitors perspective.
While there is no single element or order that will make your storyboard perfect, I have summarised some of the essential elements you should include below.
- Page Title: You must include a title on every page in the storyboard you create. In case you have similar web pages, it will be easier to identify them all.
- Header Section: The header section will contain the navigation links of your websites along with a logo and contact information. You can have whatever elements you want in your header; however, keep the header section simple and decluttered. Take amazon.com for example, in their header they have their logo, a search bar, navigation and account related tabs.
- Main Content Section: This is where you add all your main assets like images, videos, texts, etc. Let’s take amazon’s website, for example, in their content section, they have product names, images, prices and buttons. Within this section, you are looking to structure your content so that it makes sense for your visitors.
- Footer Section: As the section name suggests, it comes at the foot/bottom of the page. Within this section, you can add elements that you think will be helpful for your visitors, such as essential links, contact details, privacy details, etc. On Amazon.com, they have important links, links to their website in different countries and privacy policy.
How to create a storyboard for your website
Tools you can use to create a storyboard for your websites.
- Pen & Paper
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe XD – for wireframes or high-fidelity prototype
- Canva
And many more…
There is an endless list of software that you can use for creating storyboards, but I personally use pen and paper to get all the ideas out and then use adobe XD to transform those ideas into concepts and prototypes.
Now that you are aware of what to use let discuss how to start creating storyboards.
Step 1: You should plan and collect all the necessary data that you would like to display on your website. Preparing a compelling website starts with knowing what you want to include on the page. This includes text and any multimedia that should be provided for your viewers’ engagement, as well as data that will keep them informed about your work or service offerings. Since it is the planning phase, you can even use placeholders for text or images.
Step 2: Design a structure for your website. The next step in designing a storyboard is to create a layout and format that your end-users or visitors will find accessible and compelling.
Step 3: Prepare navigation and site structure. This will help the end-users find what they are looking for and make your website more navigable.
Step 4: Put everything together; once you have settled on a layout and navigation structure, collate all the elements.
Step 5: Evaluate and Revise, show your storyboard to your potential visitors and ask for their input. After their evaluation, you can refine the layout further. Voila! Once you are happy with the storyboard, convert it into a website.
Tips on creating the best creative storyboard for website designing
#1 – Keep it simple and consistent: Do not stress too much over the visual design of the storyboard; keep the design simple. And once you have decided on a structure or layout, stick to it.
#2 – Create a Sitemap: once you have decided on the pages, make sure to create a sitemap. This will ensure you have a clear outline of the website. Preparing a sitemap should not be complicated; design boxes, put web page name in it and make a hierarchy.
#3 – Visitor Perspective: A website design based on your visitors perspective will bring in more conversions and traffic. So, it is advisable to start your planning and designing phase keeping your visitors perspective in mind.
Conclusion
Storytelling is a powerful tool to use in website designing because it helps you connect with your customers on a deeper level. A storyboard can help you plan out the flow and structure of your website design, which will make everything more organised and cohesive from start to finish.
It provides a visual representation that allows for collaboration among all team members involved in creating the site and those who may not be readily available at any given time. They are also beneficial if changes are needed down the road or even when researching content ideas – flip back through what’s already been created!
When used correctly, storyboarding websites can lead to higher conversion rates due to increased user engagement. If you liked the content, consider sharing it with your friends or on social media.
Want to know the next step after storyboarding a website? It is designing it on adobe XD
