.png)
When I started my UX research career, I never thought that the hardest part of my job would be sharing results with stakeholders. I figured since any results worth presenting would have immediate value and impact for others, they’d pay attention.
Nearly six years and hundreds of research projects later, I can confidently say stakeholder attention is not the norm. Nearly every day I’m thinking about how to make my research easier to “digest,” and “actionable.” This usually means in the simplest and shortest way possible. And through trial-and-error I've figured out an approach that does work....and with some amendments may be useful for you too!
It’s taking your results and visualizing them. Really visualizing them, not just with charts and graphs, but with depictions of real-time experiences of customers based on the stories they've shared.
In other words, I create a comic-like version of my UX research results.
But before I show you how, let me tell you how I arrived at comics as a solution.
🤝 Looking for sustainable ways to share UXR impact with stakeholders? Take our free Business 101 for Researchers course
How comics solve reporting pain
People don’t remember bullet points, they remember stories. Stories with characters, conflict and resolution, are much more likely to stick than a dense deck filled with charts. Comics tap into a very specific style of storytelling magic, transforming user frustrations, behaviours and triumphs into something that your stakeholders can more readily identify and emotionally connect with.
But I know what you’re thinking, this style of presenting findings isn’t new, and you’re right: experience professionals have been using comics to communicate findings for decades. Comics were popular because they took insights out of the realm of abstraction and made them feel real.
Here’s what’s changed.The style and presentation of these comics were drawn and illustrated by hand, which frankly as someone who can’t draw or has time to time to draw would not be able to do. Enter AI. With AI tools like Midjourney, Dall.E and many others, anyone—even those who struggle to draw—can create engaging and visually-striking comics that bring research insights to life. It’s an example of AI helping researchers extend their capacity.
🖼️ Try these presentation templates on your next project.
How to turn results into comics
Here are the steps I use to transform my research results into compelling comics.
Step 1: Find the story in your research
Before you dive into any AI tooling, any prompt engineer will tell you it’s vital to locate a clear story based on your research. Just as important, is identifying what your story will show or demonstrate.
Don’t try to shoehorn something in—like every other framework and methodology, sometimes it will fit and sometimes you should explore all your options. Let the results (and the goals for the project) be your guide.
Try these questions:
- What’s the main tension or problem (e.g., “Users can’t find the search bar and are resorting to desperate measures.”)?
- Who are the key players (e.g., “Meet Lucy, a hopeful shopper turned reluctant detective.”)?
- What’s the resolution or key takeaway you want your stakeholders to act on (e.g., “A simple layout tweak could prevent widespread shopping-induced despair.”)?
In one recent case my research indicated a milestone moment taking place at a physical location that was handled differently depending on a “happy” or “unhappy” path. I already knew that I would need specific panels showcasing a journey, but also would need to be structured in a way to demonstrate a different mood via the color and expressions on their faces. In total there were 4 key scenarios; 2 taking place in a physical location and 2 with the characters interacting with a service via different channels.
Remember to keep it concise—three to six panels works best. No one needs a 20-panel epic on why a button’s color isn’t accessible. Even comics can become tedious.
✨ Try these ChatGPT prompts for faster UXR prep.
Step 2: Generate characters and set the scene
Now, it’s time to bring your users to life. Midjourney can generate surprisingly expressive characters with the right prompt, though it does have a habit of giving people extra fingers (or removing crucial ones). I recommend prompting the characters and scene together, because you’ll already know this from your research, whether it’s the specific channel, the situation or any specific emotions you know your character is going to have.
Here’s a sample set of prompts I might use:
Scenario 1 – At home, using the chat service
“Person sits behind a desk and uses the chat function of a banking website.”
“Person using the chat function on a banking website”
“Person talks on the phone at home”
Scenario 2 – At the bank, happy
”Person walks out of a bank, happy, daytime”
“Person walks out of a bank, happy”
“Person sits at a table in a private room talking to a bank employee”
Scenario 3 – At the bank, mixed emotions
“Person looks awkward talking to a bank employee behind the counter”
Scenario 4, At home, on the phone
“Person at home, on the sofa using their phone”
These are very basic and a few of these did do the job for what I wanted, but some of my prompts were very long, about 4 sentences, which honestly didn’t add much to the message I wanted to share with stakeholders.
It’s always worth starting with your core visualization ask and then widening or limiting as you’re presented with different variations.
At the time I did this (Sept 2024), Midjourney didn’t cope well with consistency across panels or character continuity, I think this has been improved since, but always be prepared to iterate, tweak prompts, and use inpainting tools to keep your protagonist from turning into a completely different person mid-comic.
Remember that this is an AI tool, so some interesting things may happen (e.g., your ‘cluttered website’ might end up looking like a control panel from a spaceship from a famous space-related franchise) so plan for revision time going in.
.png)
Step 3 (optional): Add speech bubbles and text
AI tools like Midjourney are great at generating visuals, but not always great at generating text. Speech bubbles don’t always look right, and it might be that you’ll need to add captions/dialogue manually.
For example:
- “What is this field asking me to write?”
- “Didn’t I already give that information?”
- “Why do I need to open another tab to fill out my information?”
Sometimes, however, speech bubbles don’t fit with my results. What then?
I use the recordings from my user interviews, clipping the relevant parts into relevant support for the comics. One of the most powerful ways to make a research insight land is hearing from users themselves, so I took a multi-modal approach: visuals AND sound to make these experiences come to life for my stakeholders.
Step 4: Share with stakeholders
This is the best part: dropping your comic into a research report, presentation, and watching as engagement skyrockets. Your usual findings summary might get a polite nod. Your AI-generated comic? Even the most data-driven stakeholders appreciate a bit of humour, and seeing user frustrations illustrated so vividly can create a real “aha” moment. (“Wait, is that what we’re making users go through? We should fix that.”)
The way to share findings in this way is two-fold. First do your big readout, generally to your immediate team and slightly outside of that. After that, try things like:
- Moving them below the, “This is what you need to do” section
- Adding them to your repository or team’s report sharing space
- Sharing the link with a short summary via email to more teams
Big note: the comics are definitely not for your C-Suite, but the levels below—for sure!
A few caveats on comics
AI-generated comics won’t replace a well-structured UXR report, but they can make it infinitely more engaging and be mindful of your audience. This isn’t something I would have taken to my very senior stakeholders BUT as an exercise in driving empathy and bringing a very specific aspect of an experience to life, it was perfect.
This approach provides a visual and auditory emotional hook and is something that people will remember. If the results you have to deliver are very bad, a comic might not be your best bet. Comics can supercharge a story, but they’re not the only way of telling one.
And remember to always attribute your visuals to whatever tool you used to create them. It’s a nice moment to share your workflow and processes with colleagues.
So go forth, experiment, and make UXR fun again. Or at least, make it harder to ignore!
More resources on UX comics
.png)
