Storyboarding as an Art
Storyboard = Blueprint. Got it. But what about the "art" of storyboarding? Art here doesn't refer to being artistic, but rather, the deliberate, thoughtful manner in which you go about it. The "art of cooking" doesn't necessarily mean being trained at a prestigous culinary school and understanding the science behind the ingredients, but having a good practical sense of how to execute basic tasks, knowing how to blend flavors, and being attentive to the presentation - the plating. Similarly, the art of storyboarding is blending all the content, assets, instruction, and navigation in a logical, easy-to-understand document or set of documents. The storyboard is now a working blueprint for one person or a team as well as a way to record the overall project for future maintenance.
The word "art" also means there are no rules. (Yay! No rules!) Well, there are some rules but essentially this means there is no right or wrong way to storyboard a project. Each project dictates what needs to be accomplished, and each company or team has its own internal cultural language. The point is to have documentation that outlines and/or maps the flow instruction. So the art in storyboarding is as much the creative design process as is the eLearning course itself. The more time you devote to the storyboard, the less time is needed for development.
Pulling from Wikipedia sources, a basic definition of "storyboarding" is given as "the process of visual thinking displayed in sequence." As we write the instructional design we must also think visually how it will be displayed on screen. At the same time we need to keep a conscious thought to the "sequence" in order to ensure good instructional flow.
At a minumum there should be at least two documents, one for instructional design and one for visual design. Since we're talking about art, there is no reason to debate whether one should storyboard the instructional design of a course first and then visually design it or vice versa. Remember, it's a process, not a rule. If you work solo, you may do these simutaneously. If you work on a team, one may be assigned the instructional design work while others are responsible for the visual layout. In either case, it is imperative that everyone is in sync with the overall design. And that design is documented in a storyboard.