Why? The Case For Sketching
We seem to be in a better position than ever to design great experiences in virtually no time. However, these tools come with a hidden cost: they tempt us to skip the key step necessary to creating a well-designed product — which is to take the time to understand the problem we are given.
That’s why I suggest to start using sketches to understand the problem and to come up with a concept before firing up your favorite tool.
Right now, you are probably thinking one of the following:
“We have a tight deadline and there is no time for doodling. We need to get started.”
“Designing in [insert your favorite tool] is faster by far. I need to get results quickly.”
“We need to present results to our [client or project partner or peers]. We cannot show them hand-drawn stuff.”
“Sorry, but I really can’t draw.”
Not only have I heard these objections a couple of times before, I’ve also said all of them myself.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM AND THE SOLUTION
Sketching enables us to explore the problem space and define the solution space at the same time. It frames our current understanding of the problem, while also helping us to figure out possible solutions.
While we sketch out our thoughts, new ideas will emerge. The ambiguity and lack of detail in sketches foster new ideas. Here, ambiguity is a good thing, because we will automatically try to fill in the blanks in our heads. That’s what makes sketching “generative”: it captures the ideas we already have and sparks new ideas. As Bill Buxton says in Sketching User Experiences:
“Learning from sketches is based largely on the ambiguous nature of their representation. That is, they do not specify everything and lend themselves to, and encourage, various interpretations that were not consciously integrated into them by their creator.”
By sketching different solutions to a problem, we can explore them without immediately committing to one of them. This gives us new insight and raises new questions. Sketching is essentially a brainstorming exercise.
THE “COST” OF SKETCHING
The fastest way to get something out of our heads is to grab a pen and a sheet of paper and quickly sketch it out. Trying to do the same in our favorite prototyping tool takes more time: We have to create a new project, decide on the right library to use, place our little rectangles on the canvas, draw little arrows connecting our little rectangles, rearrange everything a bit to make it look nice — and suddenly 30 minutes or more are gone.
If we don’t like what we see on a sheet of paper, we can just toss it in the bin and start over. Using our prototyping tool, however, makes throwing stuff away harder because of the time and effort we’ve spent creating it — even if the idea wasn’t a great one. Starting over is harder. Paper sketches, on the other hand, are cheap and fast.
See More:
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2013/06/24/sketching-for-better-mobile-experiences/