If you have ever had an inside view of the world of advertising or cinema, you will be familiar with the word ‘storyboard’. For us at Vyn, a Storyboard is part of our everyday lexicon, and so, I decided to dig a little deeper to share the back-story.
Inspired by the use of storyboarding in movies – where a set of images or illustrations are displayed in sequence to visualise a motion picture or the flow of ideas – Vyn video storyboards are a powerful tool for our clients today.
Although first used in the days of silent movies, ‘storyboarding’ as it is known today was developed in Disney Studios in the 1930s.
The first complete set of storyboards were created for a Disney short “The Three Little Pigs” in 1933
Walt Disney believed that story development was one of the most important parts of producing an animated film. Disney credited animator Webb Smith with creating the idea of drawing scenes on separate sheets of paper and pinning them up on a bulletin board to tell a story in sequence, thus creating the first storyboard.
Storyboard artists are great storytellers
A storyboard allows storytellers to visualise the sequence of the plot, the lucidity of a story, and identify any significant ‘plot holes’, or inconsistencies. Using the absolute minimum amount of information necessary, storyboards gave filmmakers a very quick read of the dynamics and the emotion of the sequence.
Fast forward to 2013, we were inspired by the potential storyboards offered in the business context.
Structure makes it succinct
We used the concept of a storyboard to create clarity and give structure to a short 30 second video anyone could create in the field from his or her mobile phone.
Tailored to a client’s process, each Vyn Storyboard has 2-3 sequential questions to create a simple yet powerful way of capturing relevant, quality data as a short video.
In the early days, these short videos were succinct stories of sales tips from the field. And, Storyboards brought these videos to life.
Shared by field sales with their team members, each video captured was of high quality, and was consistent to the process that leaders wished to embed. vyn Storyboards made it easier for a global FMCG’s European sales team to create short videos of sales tips. Further, they were spending 30% less time on admin and 81% said they were able to share more insights with their teammates than before.
Vyn – the Smarter Storyboard
Moving on, we have taken vyn many steps forward. We have made the vyn Storyboard smart.
Users see just the simplicity that vyn offers. We hide the complexity.
Users are prompted with a sequence of relevant questions to show & tell and with a single tap, the short video created can be shared with any system.
This has created an easy way for our clients to reduce costs and improve field operations’ efficiency.
Further, smart checklists offer users the option to also update quantitative data with Vyn Storyboards, to completely transform how data is captured from the field.
Patented1 algorithms, machine learning and data science helped us ‘AI-power’ these Storyboards. Based on the context, the questions, the time, location and the content captured (both visuals and speech), we are able to predict & recommend next actions to the user, or a colleague.
For our client in the energy and home services sector, automated keyword recognition created smart recommendations on up-sell opportunities, and a new revenue stream in 1.5% of the cases was realised.
What have we learnt from these Smart Storyboards?
First, structure improves quality of data from the field.
Whether it’s a field technician sharing a job completion report or a sales executive sharing the outcomes of a client meeting, you get richer quality data using structured smart video notes. Over time, continued use of Vyn Storyboards embeds process compliance.
Our client, a large energy and home services provider, improved customer satisfaction with 80% of customers rating Vyn as a very useful way of receiving the technician’s visual notes and recommendations.
Second, Vyn’s simple human interface improves efficiency.
We found that even the most technologically challenged field operative soon became proficient with Vyn. The simple user interface made it more efficient and easier for them to show2 their work with pride.
Faster asset surveys and automated updates using vyn Storyboards helped a client, European leader in the Facilities Management sector, reduce costs and increase accuracy of contract valuation.
Finally, we’ve learnt that smart questions lead to smart actions.
“It would not have been possible to explain the extent of the damage by email or text note. Vyn made it possible”
Utilities field engineer
vyn’s structured Storyboard makes it easy for users to comply with process and the vyn ‘prompts’ gently nudge them to stay on top of their ‘must-do’ or admin tasks to ‘show & tell’ rather than type.
Why we care about Storyboards
To us and for our clients, Storyboards are important at many levels. It’s a visual tool to not only transform how data is captured, but also improve the data’s quality. It’s a productivity tool, to ask the right questions that generate responses leading to next actions in the workflow. It’s also a training tool, critical for managing change, embedding desired behaviour and building capability.
Like Disney, we invest a lot of time caring about the Storyboard our clients use, as we realise that good storyboard artists are great storytellers and care about their audience. Storytelling skills matter, in business too.
1USPTO Patents granted: U.S. Patent No. 10,067,987, U.S. Patent No. 10,089,365. These patents enable smart data capture, discovery & delivery of insight.
2Speaking is 7.5 times faster than typing on mobile, Source: Royal NeuroScience Society, 2012
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Thank you for reading.
If you would like to have a chat with us to know more about vyn StoryBoards, drop us a note at [email protected]
