Instructional Design Storyboard Types with SAMPLES, a Pro Tip & Video

 

A storyboard is a common document used in film-making. It is a graphic or visual representation of all the scenes shot by shot. People with Visual Communication or Mass Communication will be familiar with Storyboards.

People from Literature, Journalism or Writing background might already know or might want to shift career into Instructional Design, considering the paradigm shift in the learning industry during COVID-19.

Things have changed. So, let’s not waste time.

There are three types of Storyboards in Instructional Design or the eLearning Industry.
They are:

1. Word storyboard or Text-based Storyboards
2. PowerPoint Storyboards
3. Rapid Prototype

You also have online platforms like Boords for Storyboards. Let’s skip the online ones for now.

Word storyboard or Text-based Storyboards

Personally, not the preferred one for me but yes, most companies use word storyboards. So, what does Word storyboard or Text-based Storyboards comprise of?

• Audio Narration or Voiceover (Script)

• Onscreen Text or Text on Screen (OST or TOS)

• Visual Description (Graphic or Developer Instructions)

Following details are also included:

• Topic title

• Lesson level learning objective

• Topic level learning objective

• SLO (Service-level objective) facets

• Screen number

• Screen type

• Screen title

• Screen template

• Learning style

• Audio file name

• Media file name

• Media source

• Media caption

• Media Alt-text

PowerPoint Storyboards

My personal favourite, as it becomes very handy in creating better visual storyboards making it easy for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), Illustrators, Graphic Designers or the Developers to understand.

The reason why I prefer PPT Visual Storyboards: 

Large companies outsource the development part to vendors or send it across to teams present in different locations and it makes visual storyboards make things easier. When your storyboard is excellent, you need not even give a walkthrough. This is not the case with text-based storyboards. It will be Greek and Latin for them.

Rapid Prototype

Rapid prototyping is building a rough version of a slide or interaction complete with narration and animations. Instead of storyboarding what you’re planning to do, you build a quick version of the slide and present it to the reviewers for their feedback. This can either be done in an eLearning authoring tool, in UX prototyping software, or even in Photoshop.

Pro Tip:

People from Visual Communication, Mass Communication, English Literature, Journalism or Writing background or people with creative juice can easily get into Instructional Design.

Salary is more than expected.