Product design storyboarding requires multiple clear visuals. This can be time-consuming and demands artistic skills. To simplify the process, I created a UX design storyboarding drawing assistant using OpenAI. This free tool generates clean black-and-white sketches instantly—just provide a few details about the frame you need, and it does the rest!
Access the storyboarding tool, free
The tool lives on chatgpt.com. It’s 100% free, regardless of how many drawings you will need. Below is the direct link to access the UX storyboarding tool on OpenAI’s platform. A special thanks to my insightful colleague Debra for her expertise on the storyboarding process.
How it works: giving 3 info, get a sketch
The custom GPT expects your input to follow a specific format, divided into three parts: a description of the person, their action, and the scene. Each part adds crucial detail to help the tool generate an accurate and meaningful sketch.
Where are people: ...Who is in the scene: ...What are they doing: ...
1/ Describe the scene or setting
Start by setting the scene. Is it a living room, a bustling coffee shop, or an office space? You can even include objects, layout, or atmosphere if it matters to the product you are building. These elements ground the sketch in reality and ensure it aligns with the user journey you’re visualizing.
2/ Describe the people or person
Next, describe the people involved. Are they young or old? Professionals, students, or parents? Add traits that are relevant to your product, like their roles, jobs, or demographic data.
2/ Describe the action
Finally, explain the action. What are the characters doing now? Are they scrolling on a phone—if so, what’s on the screen? Are they entering a store—if so, which one? Are they in a room—what type of room? Actions are the focal point of the sketch, so aim for precision.
Benefits: why I built this small AI tool
Save time
Traditional storyboarding can take hours, especially for someone like me who can’t draw. Maintaining visual consistency across frames is also a challenge. With this tool, I can generate a storyboard frame in seconds, removing the repetitive, time-consuming task of manual sketching. This frees up my time to focus on what truly matters: the collaborative, strategic aspects of storyboarding.
Real-time collaboration
Storyboarding isn’t widely used in design meetings, and I believe that’s due to the “lag effect”—the time it takes for someone to draw the team’s idea. This tool eliminates that slowness, allowing your team to spend more time discussing the various aspects of the customer journey. It also reduces confusion - “What is that drawing about again? I don’t get it.” -- said Karen. All drawings are now clear and consistent.
Free to use
Professional-grade tools are not often free. Bog thanks to ChatGPT and DALL-E. You can generate unlimited sketches in this custom GPT.
Diving deeper: what is UX storyboarding
The main elements of a UX storyboard
A UX storyboard contains more than just thee drawing. It typically includes three things: a specific scenario, the visual, and a caption.
- Scenario: Each storyboard starts with a user story. It outlines the persona involved and a short description of the storyline. Example: "Fitness enthusiast John seeks a user-friendly app to track his daily workout routines."
- Visuals: That’s where the tool comes in. The visuals represent each step in the scenario. As mentioned above, these images should include relevant details—like the user's environment and actions.
- Captions: Accompany each visual with a caption. You can keep captions concise since you have the image as the primary element.
Storyboards and journey maps are different
Journey maps provide a detailed visualization of the entire customer journey, capturing actions, emotions, tools, roadblocks... In contrast, storyboards are informal and illustrative. Here is an analogy to illustrate my point: if customer journeys are Figma files, storyboards are Balsamiq files.
Where do storyboards fit in the design process
Storyboards can be used at various stages of the product design process:
- Storyboards fuel the ideation process. As you brainstorm solutions, storyboards help visualize how users might interact with them while in the real world. This will help address pain points without introducing new issues, before moving on to design and development.
- Using storyboards to turn research data into visual narratives can help you make research insights less dry. This is specially useful when you have problem-related insights or to highlight key themes. Storyboards can illustrate what users say and do, bringing the empathy stage to a new level.
- Storyboards can enhance journey maps too. Showing images of users at different stages using your product, even in sketches, will help non-designers imaging what the solution could be.
Frequently asked questions on this topic
Do I need artistic skills to use this storyboarding tool?
No. All you need to do is provide details about the characters, actions, and setting, and the tool does the drawing for you. The more specific and detailed your explanation, the better the sketch will be.
Can I generate multiple versions of a sketch?
Yes. Type “Regenerate” to see a new variation of the same frame.
Is the tool really free?
Yes. The UX Design Storyboarding Drawing Assistant can be found on the GPT Store, and custom GPTs are currently free to use. All you need is a free ChatGPT account to access and start using the storyboarding tool.
Is the tool safe and appropriate for work?
Absolutely. The tool operates on ChatGPT, which has built-in safety systems to prevent the creation of inappropriate content. It is designed to focus on professional, user-centered storyboarding and will not generate drawings that violate OpenAI's usage policies.