Sketching matters. Paul Goode and Mark Kraemer discuss ways to get faster and more accurate by incorporating a "sketch" attitude into problem solving. Drop the document debt and build a picture.
14. Sketching provides a baseline of understanding. #attitude
In the room we'll have a designer, a front end dev, back end #fuzzy
dev, project, and product (me) people plus possibly a client or
two. At the idea stage you have words in the air. The problem
Joshua Kahn with words in the air is that everyone attaches their own
Product Line Mgr at Best Buy
#transparent
picture of what those words look like. The sketch,
especially if it's viewable by everyone, grounds the discussion
Sketching provides a
and immediately reveals gaps in reality or gaps between
baseline of understanding.
everyone's interpretation of the concept.
It helps me a great deal personally, since I'm not a developer, I #structured
can go down trails that are more based on "computer magic"
than the actual capability of the tech. A sketch allows
developers to course correct me. #speed
#accuracy
In short, the tangibility of sketches gets the group more
quickly and accurately to the thing.
Nov 2011
15. During meetings and standups and brainstorming sessions I
sketch on white boards and paper to make sure that I'm on #fuzzy
the same page with people about planned interactions or
interfaces. I also like to print out interfaces we've already
designed and then cover parts of them with post-its and draw
Abi Jones what should be there instead. As you can see, the visual
#transparent
Designer at Google
design for Google Search isn't too complex, so I can move
pretty quickly from a sketch to a relatively high-fidelity mock.
I should note that not
everyone at Google is a
sketcher. I'm just not very In other cases I might 'sketch' with snagit or photoshop (really
fast with Photoshop, so I like rough work) and then an engineer will make a working #structured
to draw things first.
prototype based on that rough.
For my current project I'm in a room with the entire team,
so my sketches and mocks are up on the walls and we
can all stand up and look at the board and discuss the #speed
flow of the interface and the interactions that take place.
#attitude
It's nice because standing up is informal, but it is also
important that when you present sketches you have a #accuracy
recorder who can get all of the feedback for the meeting.
Nov 2011
16. Sketching is where everyone found common ground and #attitude
made the project workable.
We created a small, immersive educational game to educate #fuzzy
students interested in aspects of successful deer hunting. The
Edward Cossette initial concept fit into a single sketch. More sketches were
UX Mgr at Kalkomey Enterprises
#transparent
made, those turned to wireframes, wireframes and
documentation informed the illustrator, content and game
The game design started
design. #structured
with a single sketch.
As for the team, each person worked remote, with limited
availability, and sketching was the keystone in
communicating. Sketching served as balance between a #speed
verbose and academic education designer, prone to 3500- #accuracy
Shoot or Don’t Shoot
word emails, and a programmer, prone to single-line emails.
http://www.hunter-ed.com/
Nov 2011
36. See, I
understand...
how to help fill
a room with
IKEA stuff.
This got the ball rolling.
#fuzzy
#structured
It got tweaked after
assembling and using it.
51. Big ideas.
GOALS
Communicate that you understand.
Capture and do something with it.
Be bold and sketch.
Show progress.
You really need to move on to the making the thing.
60. “Any problem can be made clearer with a picture,
and any picture can be made using
the same simple set of tools and rules.”
- The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
61. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
You’re not shipping the sketch.
#pro-tip
62. Please excuse the crudity of this model.
I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it.
63. 1. Draw a noun
2. Label it with text
This accommodates both visual and aural learners.
It also helps folks make sense of your drawings
when you’re not there to explain them yourself.
#pro-tip
64.
65. Practice the shapes specific to your domain.
Put at title and date on every page.
#pro-tips
66.
67.
68.
69. Concept Maps are a great way
to get your arms around complex ideas.
95. make prototypes, not promises
make designs, not documents
collaborate, don’t litigate
partner, don’t just provide
make contacts, not contracts
make friends, not war
96. make prototypes, not promises
make designs, not documents
collaborate, don’t litigate
partner, don’t just provide
make contacts, not contracts
make friends, not war
The collaboration required for group
sketching
also develops relationships that are
more capable