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Simple & Pragmatic Problem Solving
#93Chapter 6: Group Creative Option Generation• Group Creative OptionsNarrative, visual and scenario-based (Narrative Visual) ThinkingGroup Mode60-120 Minutes(Time-consuming)

Storyboarding

From the book "Advanced Problem-Solving Toolbox: 115 Creative Plays" | Compiled & Edited by: Mojtaba Goudarzi, Open translation: Mehrshid Goudarzi
Executive Synopsis & Core Logic:

Walt Disney's narrative illustration technique; Visual and step-by-step layout of the stages of a project, product or user experience on wall panels to visualize the flow of the story and identify nodes before implementation.

Operational Parameters & Specifications

Category
Group Creative Options
Dominant Thinking
Narrative, visual and scenario-based (Narrative Visual)
Participation
Group
Estimated TimeTime-consuming
60-120 Minutes
Workshop
Input Format
Challenge or user journey, visual/text cards, paneled wall board
Output Format
Generating the idea and map of the illustrated narrative process
Key Application
Customer Journey Map design, software and gaming features development, event planning and airport and hotel services redesign.
Core Differentiator:

Telling the story of the user's life with the product or project progress frame by frame (like movie sequences) instead of boring linear text lists.

Quick Field Example:

A tourism startup puts the entire traveler's journey from the moment of searching for a ticket to returning home in 8 cartoon frames on the wall and immediately notices the confusion of the traveler at the airport of origin.

Operational Benefits & Implementation Risks

Advantages & Value Creation:

Creating a deep visual shared understanding in the team, quickly discovering stuck steps or gaps in the user experience, highly engaging and interactive workshops.

Risks & Potential Trade-offs:

The possibility of obsessing over the quality of paintings and sketches instead of concepts, requiring sufficient wall space for the arrangement of panels.

Real-World Organizational & Industry Scenarios

Application design and online services: step-by-step illustration of registration, authentication, payment and delivery of goods on storyboard board.
Event and conference planning: framing guest arrivals, receptions, speeches and networking to eliminate bottlenecks.
Industrial production and assembly line: Mapping the movement sequences of parts in the factory to detect unnecessary stops.

Strategic Rationale & Why to Apply

1is the story of the natural structure of the human mind: the human brain is much better at analyzing information in the form of time-bound narratives.
2Discover invisible bottlenecks: When you stack steps, the missing hole between step 3 and 4 will immediately show itself.
3Equality of understanding between specialties: designer, programmer and sales manager all see a single picture of the user experience.
4Zero-cost modification: Moving a card on the wall is thousands of dollars cheaper than rewriting software-ready code.

Conceptual Framework & Book Method Description

Storyboarding, invented in the 1930s by Walt Disney Animation Studios, revolutionized visual thinking and problem solving. In this method, the team of 8-12 people divides a large wall board into the main pillars (topic, process, stakeholders, barriers). Under each column, cards and narrative sketches are arranged to form a linear flow of events from the beginning to the end. This visualization allows the team to identify friction points and opportunities for innovation at a glance.

Step-by-Step Real-World Implementation Scenario

Designing and improving the experience of booking and delivering smart shared cars
1
Step 1: Defining the goal and creating narrative pillarsThe storyboard team posted the challenge on the board: 'How to make the first customer journey perfect?' and made 5 panels (searching, opening the door, driving, parking and settlement).
2
Step 2: Draw picture frames of the current situationDesigners draw picture cards for each step: the user is standing in the rain, waiting for Bluetooth confirmation to unlock the car.
3
Step 3: Discover the user experience blind spotThe team immediately saw that the frame between 'finding a car in a crowded parking lot' and 'door opening' was a disaster; The user does not find the car in the dark!
4
Step 4: Brainstorming on the defective frameNew ideas were added to the frame: soft beeps and flashing lights with clicks in the app, along with augmented reality (AR) guidance on the phone's camera.
5
Step 5: Recreating the final storyboard and implementingthe new test sequence and delivered it to the software team; The time to find the car decreased from 7 minutes to less than 30 seconds.

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