Chat screens as storyboard frames
Plan a flow as a row of chat frames. Give each frame one decision, keep it to four messages, and export the set in order.
Try it: start from this sample
Game night at mine on Friday?
Who else is coming?
Just the usual four. Bring snacks.
I will bring the board game from last time.
One frame, one decision
A storyboard frame should show one moment where something changes. In a chat frame, that is a question asked, a choice made or a promise given. The sample is Frame 1 of a small sequence: an invitation. Frame 2 might be a complication, and Frame 3 the resolution. Sketch the row of frames on paper first, with a one-line caption under each. Four messages per frame matches the Free plan limit and keeps the frame readable.
For an app flow, think of the frames as the moments between screens: the question that opens a task, the confirmation that closes it, the reminder a week later. Write each frame in the words a real user would use, not in product jargon.
Keep a consistent look across the set
Pick the look, colour scheme and people once, then reuse them in every frame so the viewer reads the changes in the story rather than changes in the design. Name each chat Frame 1, Frame 2 and so on in the title field, which keeps exports easy to order. Paid plans have saved history and batch export, which help when the set grows. If you plan an app flow, use frames to show the conversation around the feature, such as the message that triggers a purchase.
Present and test the sequence
Lay the exports in a row and read only the last message of each frame. If the story still makes sense, the structure is sound. Show the set to someone who has not seen the idea, and ask them to tell it back to you. Label the board as a storyboard of fictional conversations when it leaves your team.
Tips
- Number the frames before you export, not after.
- End every frame on a message that pushes toward the next.
- Do not change the people's names between frames unless the story needs it.
- Test the order by reading the last bubbles only.
- Keep a text file with each frame's goal in one line.
Questions
How many frames can I make?
The Free plan lets you make one chat per day, so a long board needs a paid plan. The plans page lists limits. Standard and above include batch export for several images.
Can one frame hold more than four messages?
On a paid plan, yes. For a storyboard, four messages is often the right size anyway, because a frame needs to be read at a glance.
Can I animate the sequence?
Video export is a Creator plan feature, and it plays one chat's messages in order. Frames made as separate chats are better assembled in a video editor.
What if the storyboard is for a client?
Label the frames as concept storyboards with invented people. Never present them as real conversations.
Use it for simulated, labelled content. ChatsRat makes mock-ups and fictional conversations for creators, designers and teachers. Do not use it to pass off a made-up conversation as a real one, to impersonate a real person, or as proof of anything. See the Acceptable Use policy.
About the watermark. Exports on the Free plan carry a visible ChatsRat watermark, and every export carries an invisible mark that the verify page can read. Plans list what changes on paid plans.
ChatsRat is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any messaging app. App names on this page describe a style only.