WebJunction

Storyboards are simply ways to outline the different topics or “pages” that you anticipate on your site. By using note cards, you can brainstorm the various topic areas and begin to see ways to not only group your information, but how you link from one page to another and slowly build your navigation.

1. Start by brainstorming all the different types of content you believe you want on your site. Capture the ideas quickly using brainstorming rules to capture everything without judgment or organization.

2. Organize the ideas into common groupings. These are not necessarily information that will be on the same web page, but the categories could be the beginnings of your site links for your whole site.

3. Label the cards as “now” or “future” to discern how much of your content is available today versus how much is something you hope to do pending time or resources.

4. As you build your categories, group by the TOPIC or content and not by who authored it or owns the information. A common mistake is organizing your content by “departments.” Your user is most likely unaware of the departmental structure of your organization, and will find a departmentally structured site difficult to navigate.

5. Be careful that you are not “tooting” your own horn or have a heavy focus on promotion. Audiences will know what you do if you provide the correct information they need.

6. As you build your storyboard, is the point of your site obvious?

Tips for storyboarding:

• Involve staff from different areas in your organization in the storyboarding process. This will help ensure that you don't miss valuable pieces of content when you build your site.

• Try using a large sheet of white paper or a “sticky wall” to affix your note cards and organize the cards into groupings. This will help you visualize the organization of your site.

• You can use different colored cards to indicate “now” and “future” content or for labeling your topic cards.

• Taking a picture of your cards or keeping them grouped with binder clips after you've organized them can be a great help when redesign time comes around. If you have the storage space, you can roll up your large sheet of paper or sticky wall and store it for future reference. By doing so, you will be able to see content that you intended to add to the site and never got around to adding, groupings that made sense when you started and now might need reorganization, and content gaps that you missed the first time around.