Excerpts from the studio, "Experience Definition through Storyboarding" at the MIT Media Lab, as part of the TEI '10 conference (Jan 26, 2010). The studio was designed and facilitated by Sal Cilella, Craighton Berman and Justin Rheinfrank of gravitytank, a Chicago-based design and innovation consultancy.

1. welcome.
STORYBOARDING EXPERIENCES WORKSHOP
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3. 12:15 Experience & Story
1:00 Creating Scenarios
2:45 Break
3:00 Experience Storyboarding Presentation
3:30 Experience Storyboarding Worksession
5:30 Groups present their storyboards
gravitytank X TEI’10 | January 2010

4. how do you design an experience?
what’s your process?
where do you start?
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5. we like to start from the
audience perspective
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6. every experience –
mobile, kiosk, product, environment –
has an audience.
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7. as the author, what are you trying
to say to your audience?
what do you want them to feel?
learn? tell others?
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8. let’s look at the audience experience in an interactive
installation...
1. Initial discovery 2. Interpretation 3. Reflection + resolution
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9. how would your audience relate this
experience to others?
through a story.
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10. they would tell the story
in 3 acts.
Act 1 - Intro Act 2 - Confrontation Act 3 - Resolution
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11. ACT 1 //
Luke leaves the tranquility of home to join Ben, defeat
the bad guys and save the princess.
ACT 2 //
Luke finds the princess, loses Ben and commits to
stopping the Evil Empire.
ACT 3 //
Luke blows up the Death Star and saves the universe.
All is well.
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12. the 3 act structure from an
audience perspective.
ooh, this is relevant to me
whew, they made it
woah, this changes everything
Act 1 - Intro Act 2 - Confrontation Act 3 - Resolution
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13. A TEI experience goes beyond traditional story:
> interactive, not passive
> non-linear
> mutable and dynamic
> physical and digital
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14. in a TEI experience,
the author (you) and the audience
build the story together
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15. we will look at tools and techniques
to create a compelling TEI experience
for your audience...
...and tell a better story
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16. 12:15 Experience & Story
1:00 Creating Scenarios
2:45 Break
3:00 Experience Storyboarding Presentation
3:30 Experience Storyboarding Worksession
5:30 Groups present their storyboards
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19. Giving them some Character
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20. Develop backstories and relationships
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21. Iconic representations and simplified forms
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22. Focus on iconic elements
Find a perspective of the object that reads the best
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23. 1/
2
1/
2
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26. Combine some basic blocks and glare lines with people
and hands
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28. Background
Middle-ground
Foreground
Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment
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29. Rule of 3rds
Stanley Kubrick, Paths of Glory
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30. Symmetrical balance
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31. Symmetrical balance
Rick Valencenti, Wolfson Breuer House
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32. Asymmetrical balance
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33. Asymmetrical balance
Rick Valencenti, Wolfson Breuer House
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39. 12:15 Experience & Story
1:00 Creating Scenarios
2:45 Break
3:00 Experience Storyboarding
3:30 Experience Storyboarding Worksession
5:30 Groups present their storyboards
gravitytank X TEI’10 | January 2010

40. telling a story about an experience
focuses on the benefits
instead of the features
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41. What can this process do for design teams?
> promotes collaboration
> connects design with emotion
> injects energy into iteration
> prompts decisions
> creates clarity
> think broadly about opportunities
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42. storyboarding is a
flexible tool for
designing experiences
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43. the experience storyboarding process
combines analysis, generation, and shaping
into one collaborative session
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44. enhance the public transit experience
with new tangible and embedded interactions
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45. define the character, set and script (20 MIN)
> define the main character(s) and draw them
> map out what currently happens on post-its
> where does it happen?
create the current state (30 MIN)
> create the keyframes of the current process
analysis (10 MIN)
> what are the pain points & opportunities?
generation (30 MIN)
> brainstorm new solutions
> go for generating many ideas quickly
shaping (30 MIN)
> create the future state scenario
gravitytank X TEI’10 | January 2010