TEchNOLOGy TRaNSFER MODEL - Javna agencija

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BUSINESS CULTURE
3.9.3 Creative problem solving – Story boarding
What it is
Storyboarding is a tool for planning and designing, and helps us to organise
ideas into a structure.
A »quality storyboard« is a tool to help facilitate the introduction of a quality
improvement process into an organisation.
The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at
the Walt Disney Studio (by Michael Vance) during the early 1930s, after several
years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation
studios.
In addition to films and comic books today storyboarding is used in theatre,
business, photomatic, animatics, interactive media, ...
Why use it?
One advantage of using storyboards is that it allows the user to experiment
with changes in the storyline to evoke stronger reaction or interest. Flashbacks,
for instance, are often the result of sorting storyboards out of chronological
order to help build suspense and interest.
The process of visual thinking and planning allows a group of people to brainstorm
together, placing their ideas on storyboards and then arranging the storyboards on the wall. This fosters more ideas and
generates consensus inside the group.
When to use it
Storyboards were adapted from the film industry to business, aimlessly by Howard Hughes of Hughes Aircraft. Today they are used by
industry for planning ad campaigns, commercials, a proposal or other projects intended to convince or compel to action.
You might be planning a product launch, managing a project, creating a marketing strategy, building a new process, or identifying a
cause-and-effect relationship.
Your storyboard, then, would detail each step in the process. But instead of using words and writing out “to do” list, your storyboard
allows you to see everything that must happen. As a group, your team creates a detailed outline of the steps that need to take place.
Then they work to spot problems, identify complications, and rearrange tasks as necessary. Storyboards are “loose”: they encourage
creativity and experimentation, and they can be very effective in the planning process.
The tool can be used with drawings, pictures, words, phrases, recorder on post-its so ideas can be sorted easily.
How to use it 3
Creating a storyboard isn’t as difficult as it may seem. You can rely on the following four steps (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/
article/newTMC_77.htm):
Step 1: LAY OUT YOUR STEPS:
Brainstorm what you are trying to achieve, and then write out the steps that you must take to accomplish your goal.
Many people find that post-it notes help in this process. You may want to re-order steps later, or you may remember steps that you’ve
missed out initially, and Post-its allow you to pick up and rearrange information easily.
Step 2: PUT YOUR STEPS IN ORDER:
Put the steps that you noted down in Step 1 in the right sequence.
Step 3: CREATE YOUR SUBLEVELS:
Some actions in a storyboard will be made up of a series of smaller actions. Here, it might help to create a sublevel storyboard for
these more involved steps. This helps ensure that you don’t miss a key piece of the process.
Step 4: LOOK FOR PROBLEMS AND OBSTACLES:
As each new step is put in your storyboard, encourage the team to look for »holes« and problems in the process. This is especially
important between frames. Why? Because it’s between frames, or steps, that surprises (in other words, problems) could be hiding
(problems within each step are easier to spot.)
This is why storyboards are so valuable. You can see each piece of the puzzle, and how all the pieces interact - so you’re more likely
to spot problems.
3 For an example “Creating a newsletter” look at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_77.htm.
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