Abstract
Storyboard creation is a powerful tool in design practice for fostering shared understanding among stakeholders. In Japan’s public sector, the use of storyboards has expanded in digital transformation (DX) initiatives to visualize complex reform processes. However, the creation of storyboards—especially scenario construction—requires cognitive effort and skills often lacking in non-designer contexts such as government. This paper introduces a methodology for enhancing the productivity of storyboard scenario creation using generative AI. Implemented within “Gov-Toolbox,” a co-creative initiative between a public research institute and a university, the methodology employs large language models to automatically generate coherent four-panel storyboard scripts from case study documents. Ten administrative DX cases were processed with a uniform prompt design. The resulting scenarios required minimal revisions and became part of Japan’s first set of public-sector case studies to adopt a storyboard-based format. The outcomes highlight improvements in efficiency, narrative clarity, and information accessibility, demonstrating how generative AI can enable wider adoption of visual storytelling in public innovation. Implications are discussed in relation to design literacy, civic communication, and future automation of multimodal storyboarding.
Keywords
Generative AI; Storyboard Design; Government; Public Sector; Digital Transformation (DX)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1189
Citation
Kano, E.(2025) Enhancing Storyboard Production with Generative AI: A Case Study on Public Sector Digital Transformation, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1189
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 7 - Service Design for Public Services and Policies
Enhancing Storyboard Production with Generative AI: A Case Study on Public Sector Digital Transformation
Storyboard creation is a powerful tool in design practice for fostering shared understanding among stakeholders. In Japan’s public sector, the use of storyboards has expanded in digital transformation (DX) initiatives to visualize complex reform processes. However, the creation of storyboards—especially scenario construction—requires cognitive effort and skills often lacking in non-designer contexts such as government. This paper introduces a methodology for enhancing the productivity of storyboard scenario creation using generative AI. Implemented within “Gov-Toolbox,” a co-creative initiative between a public research institute and a university, the methodology employs large language models to automatically generate coherent four-panel storyboard scripts from case study documents. Ten administrative DX cases were processed with a uniform prompt design. The resulting scenarios required minimal revisions and became part of Japan’s first set of public-sector case studies to adopt a storyboard-based format. The outcomes highlight improvements in efficiency, narrative clarity, and information accessibility, demonstrating how generative AI can enable wider adoption of visual storytelling in public innovation. Implications are discussed in relation to design literacy, civic communication, and future automation of multimodal storyboarding.