Comments on Comics: Not just for laughs!

Paul Bryan — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:30:40 GMT

This article really strikes home. “Understanding Comics” is one of my favorite books on media and perception. I remember my first week at Sapient as an Information Architect in 1999, having arrived from a corporate setting. There was a Vitamin Shoppe deliverable on the table in the kitchen, and it made extensive use of comic-based user scenarios. I thought, “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!” I saw a lot more creative web work in the ensuing projects, with new thinking about everyday life tasks. After the bubble burst and 9/11, and starting my own company, it seems that a seriousness set in, that unless you’re working with a media or creative company, it’s all button-down standard IA deliverables, in shades of gray. I frankly don’t think I would have the nerve to propose or submit deliverables that use comics, unless the project sponsor was a think-outside-the-box communicator. So I’d be interested, Rebekah, if you would post a comment about which types of clients you think this approach would be most appropriate for.

mike krivansky — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:47:02 GMT

its called storyboarding people!

Paul Geronca — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:40:49 GMT

Great article, and nice to see the reference to Scott McCloud, whose Understanding Comics series has been required reading in university-level Rhetoric as well as Graphic Design courses. Using the context of comics, McCloud addresses specific issues in visual language and communication, and details the role of technology and presentation in the production and reception of messages.

Mac Randall — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:53:52 GMT

Rebekah, thanks for the fantastic article. I especially looking to utilize this idea in proposals. So often a proposal is passed around internally by a corporation without you having the benefit to explain certain items. Comics appear to be a perfect way to make sure that all stakeholders have a clear idea of what the end user experience will be.

Chris Baum — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:39:01 GMT

Just fyi that we’ve added a footnote to this story more clearly attributing Kevin Cheng’s fantastic “Communicating Concepts through Comics”:http://kevnull.com/creating-concepts-through-comics/ presentations. This story is a case study showing that these ideas work. Nice work, Rebekah, and thanks to Kevin for spreading the good word far and wide. We’re doing our best to help that along.

Chris Pallé — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 11:59:28 GMT

Hmm, I’m having quite a few, duh-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that moments reading this article and the great comments. I’ve thought though ideas in a storyboarding format before, but demonstrating the actual persons in different scenarios makes a ton of sense. Especially when persuading upper management, a client, or even your teammates to go with an idea. Interestingly, I rediscovered an application that came with my MacBook Pro called “Comic Life” produced by http://plasq.com/

The important part of the process here though is not how to get down on paper, but rather, the process. Rebekah made the most important point in Step 1. The ideas need to be well-crafted and articulate first. Ensure that what is put in the final is only the essentials.

Another point some of the comments alluded to here, that since the practitioners of our discipline are sometimes stereotyped, using comic illustrations (sequential art) does help us break out of that a bit. One comment reminded me of how an art director at an agency who totally typified me as an un-creative because my role there was to produce IA docs. I get the sense that is kinda true for a lot the visual folks. Involving them in this aspect of strategy could really help build bridges in the agency environment.

Great help, Rebekah. Thanks for the sparks.

Dave Elfving — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:59:02 GMT

Art Spiegelman (following Will Eisner) prefers the term sequential art to the mildly pejorative comics. When seen as sequential art, comics seem a logical avenue for exploring and communicating user experience. Further, the visual language of comics can be helpful when it comes to actually designing interfaces and organizing information.

So it’s great to see that the idea is catching on! I’m tired of explaining that my piles of comics are part of an ongoing research project.

Praveen Kumar Verma — Tue, 29 May 2007 05:27:18 GMT

I am very impressed and loved your thought process to use comics to communicate design. Really innovative and engaging. And thanks Rebekah for sharing the visio stensil.

Richard Dalton — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:00:09 GMT

In a recent scenario / storyboard we used some team members as actors and did informal photo-shoots, then used Photoshop filters to blur them so that they were less detailed (and less distracting from the actual story). It actually worked really well!

Dan Ward — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:06:46 GMT

Here’s another example of using a comic to convey important ideas. After writing a series of articles for the DoD’s technology development journal, my colleagues and I put together a 2-page superhero-style comic to literally illustrate the concepts. We wanted to get the attention of people who typically don’t read journal articles, and the response was fantastic.

You can see the PDF of the comic at http://www.dau.mil/pubs/dam/03_04_2006/fist_ma06.pdf.

Mike Rowade — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:03:39 GMT

Here’s a range of (single and multi-panel) examples:
http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/eLearning/Images/eLearningM…
http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/Images/RWMapCartoonPrint.jp…
http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/Images/DividingLineCartoon.…
http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/Images/FlagOnMoon.jpg
http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/Images/TornMapReaders.jpg
http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/Images/PeaceGames.jpg

Rahel Anne Bailie — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 06:23:03 GMT

Using comics to storyboard to explain UX is only a step away from using comics as user guides. (Slight tangent but I haven’t seen this discussed anywhere.)

In the 1990s, when I worked for the provincial Legal Aid agency, we produced “how to” comic books for First Nations communities (equivalent of “Native American” communities) to communicate what to do in common legal situations where people might not qualify for legal aid but may not be able to afford a lawyer. The comic books were very well received, because they were seen as relevant due to their cultural specificity, and the advantage was that we reached a vulnerable audience whose literacy skills may not have allowed them to slog through a traditional booklet on “legal options after spousal abuse” or “legal recourse after removal of your children”.

Like using comics for UX work, comics are an economical and evocative way to explain complex topics at a glance. Putting the amount of information we got into an 8- or 12-page comic was an incredibly effective way of communicating not just the technical info, but also communicating mountains of contextual info that would never have made its way into any other textual or graphic (as in Visio) representation of a process.

Max Lord — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:05:33 GMT

I have been drawing comics since middle school, so it was a natural tool for me when I started UX work back in the dark ages before all the normal techniques kind of standardized themselves. In the first shop I worked in, we also did a lot of simplified comic-styled versions of on-screen UIs. While I like the comic format for presentations, I find a traditional storyboard format better for me as a daily tool. It contains more information, but it’s still accessible to non-technical audiences. It was the absolute best option when doing work for Disney too (of course).

In a client role, I would be tickled pink to get information presented in this manner!

I hope everyone using comics chimes in so I can steal ideas.

Martin Hardee — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:05:45 GMT

We use comics at Sun for a variety of web design and customer experience projects, and we have posted a set of illustrated scenes and characters to you use at: designcomics.org We’ve placed these images into the public domain so you can use them as you will.

- Martin Hardee

Ido Dan — Tue, 22 May 2007 22:49:25 GMT

Brilliant and refreshing. Good job Rebekah!
-Ido.