How to Create a Design Storyboard: Examples, Tips & Tools

Create a Design Storyboard

Visual Thinking That Builds Real Products

A great product starts long before the first line of code is written. It begins with a story-a user journey filled with goals, frustrations, needs and emotional beats. Design storyboarding brings that journey to life visually, aligning teams, uncovering user pain points and ultimately reducing development waste. Whether you're launching a SaaS product or evolving an existing one, storyboarding is a must-have step in your strategy toolbox.

At Hexagon IT Solutions, we use storyboarding to streamline ideation, guide our design process and ensure we’re building products users love. In this guide, we’ll show you how to master storyboarding with actionable steps, expert tips, tool recommendations and real-world examples.

Table of Contents

  • What is Storyboarding for Design
  • The Purpose of a Design Storyboard
  • Why Storyboarding Matters in Product Design
  • The 5 Essential Steps of Storyboarding
  • Expert Tips for Storyboard Success
  • Best Tools for Digital and In-Person Storyboarding
  • Design Storyboard Examples

Author

J Daks

Founder & CEO

Daks is a seasoned tech enthusiast with over 20 years of expertise in creating tailored software solutions. His love for tackling challenges inspired him to establish Hexagon IT Solutions in 2007, Renowned for his mastery in various programming languages, project management, operations, networking, and more, Daks continues to drive innovation and excellence in the tech world.

Have
Questions?

Contact us today and let's discuss how we can help your business grow!

What is Storyboarding for Design?

Storyboarding in the design process is a visual exercise that maps a user’s interaction with your product, but not in terms of UI yet. It helps teams envision what the user wants to achieve, the context they’re in, the problems they face and the journey they take.

Unlike wireframes, storyboards don’t focus on buttons or screens. They illustrate moments and emotions. Think of it like a comic strip where each frame represents a key scene in the user’s experience.

Design storyboards often emerge during the discovery or research phase of product strategy and can also be used for:

  • UX audits
  • Annual product planning
  • Pre-prototype discussions
  • New feature development

The Purpose of a Design Storyboard

The purpose of storyboarding is to:

  • Align teams and stakeholders around the user’s story
  • Create shared understanding before investing in design
  • Uncover potential gaps, pain points and opportunities
  • Keep development focused on real user outcomes

Storyboards bring user research to life. They help teams answer critical questions:

  • Where does the user start?
  • What is their goal?
  • What emotional states do they go through?
  • Where do they encounter friction?

A strong storyboard becomes the north star for your product design.

Why Storyboarding Matters in Product Design

Companies that move too quickly from idea to wireframe often find themselves iterating on problems that could’ve been solved earlier. Storyboarding helps:

  • Validate direction before design sprints or UI work
  • Avoid costly misalignment among team members
  • Ground abstract ideas into specific scenarios
  • Encourage empathy with end-users

It’s part of our process at Hexagon IT Solutions to lead discovery with visuals, not just strategy decks. Our clients appreciate the clarity it brings to the design phase.

The 5 Essential Steps of Storyboarding

Step 1: Appoint a Facilitator and Drawer

Schedule a cross-functional team meeting (UX, PM, developers, stakeholders). Assign one facilitator and one person to draw the frames.

  • The facilitator keeps the session on track, asks clarifying questions and ensures balanced participation.
  • The drawer (or visual note taker) sketches each key moment as it’s discussed.

Step 2: Explore Problems and Needs

Facilitator guides the team to unpack:

  • User goals (stated and hidden)
  • Pain points and friction areas
  • Emotions tied to each interaction

At this stage, don’t worry about UI or functionality-just tell the story.

Step 3: Define 4–6 Key Moments in the Journey

Narrow the journey down to 4–6 critical moments. Example (for a booking app):

  • Discover the event
  • Browse options
  • Choose ticket and seat
  • Pay
  • Receive confirmation
  • Save ticket for future use

Step 4: Identify Essential User Flows

List high-level user flows needed to support that journey:

  • Browse by date or location
  • Filter by price
  • Save payment method
  • Receive email receipt

Step 5: Share and Gather Feedback

Once the storyboard is complete:

  • Review with other departments
  • Show it to actual users
  • Refine based on feedback before you begin prototyping

Expert Tips for Storyboard Success

1. Start with a Clear Persona

The more detailed your persona, the more precise your story. Build around specific traits, environments and goals.

2. Focus on Moments, Not Interfaces

Capture emotional highs and lows. These are the design leverage points.

3. Keep it Simple

Stick to 5–6 frames. Too many details can blur the insights.

4. Use Scenarios

Example: A parent juggling work and childcare while scheduling doctor appointments.

5. Invite Different Roles

Get marketing, customer support, and development in the room. Fresh perspectives bring new ideas.

6. Include Emotions

Is your user stressed, hopeful, frustrated or delighted? Show it!

7. Keep Iterating

Update the storyboard post-launch or after big feedback rounds.

Best Tools for Digital and In-Person Storyboarding

1. Whiteboard + Sticky Notes

Great for in-person workshops. Tactile, fast and flexible.

2. Miro

Digital whiteboarding platform. Perfect for remote collaboration with built-in templates.

3. Figma

Ideal for teams already using Figma. It supports storyboarding and transitions into wireframing.

4. Lucidchart

More structured than Miro. Great for complex logic flows or customer journey maps.

5. Microsoft Whiteboard

Simple and built into Microsoft Teams. Good for teams using Office 365.

Design Storyboard Examples

Example 1: Sticky Notes + Posterboard

A conference booking app storyboard maps the journey from discovery to ticket storage. Each sticky note shows the user's action and emotion.

Example 2: Comic Strip

A hungry office worker uses a meal delivery app before a meeting. The storyboard illustrates the problem, solution and satisfying result in cartoon form.

Example 3: Customer Journey Grid

Rows represent user actions, emotions and questions. Columns represent phases of the journey. A clear, structured storyboard for service design.

Storyboarding is more than a creative exercise. It’s a strategic framework that empowers your team to build the right product the first time. Done right, it saves time, reduces development costs and fosters alignment across departments.

At Hexagon IT Solutions, we specialize in turning storyboards into real-world SaaS solutions. Our product strategists and UX experts guide you through discovery, storyboard, prototyping and full product development.

Ready to turn user journeys into breakthrough software ?

Let’s build your next product—smarter, faster and aligned from day one.

Contact us for a free storyboard consultation

Author

J Daks

Founder & CEO

Daks is a seasoned tech enthusiast with over 20 years of expertise in creating tailored software solutions. His love for tackling challenges inspired him to establish Hexagon IT Solutions in 2007, Renowned for his mastery in various programming languages, project management, operations, networking, and more, Daks continues to drive innovation and excellence in the tech world.

Have
Questions?

Contact us today and let's discuss how we can help your business grow!

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