Collaborative Sketching for UXRobert Stribley

02/19/14

Arguably, we’ve been sketching for eons

But now, we’re sketching more than ever

• IdeaPaint Inc makes a paint that turns any surface into a whiteboard

• Its sales have doubled every year since introduced in 2008

• More than ½ its business is in the workplace

See “Doodling for Dollars,” Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2012

Why sketch?

• Enable communication

• Make abstract concepts concrete

• Iterate on ideas• Jumpstart

collaboration• Ensure recollection• Humanize ideas

What can I sketch?

• Home pages• Category pages• Product pages• Wizards & widgets• Search results• Process Flows• Anything, really

And there’s so much more to sketch for …

• Smartphones• Tablets• Google Glass• iWatches• Responsive design• Ubiquitous

computing

Who can sketch?

• Information architects• Interaction designers• Graphic designers• Content strategists• Project managers• Business analysts• Functional analysts• Developers • Client directors

Really, anyone can sketch

Cartoon by XKCD

A few ways we sketch at Razorfish:

• Solo• Sketch to comp• Communicate to client• Storyboarding• As a team – collaboratively

What sketching isn’t …

• Sketching isn’t only for designers

• Sketching isn’t difficult• Sketching isn’t drawing

You needn’t be Michelangelo to participate

However, we can learn from the pros

Who often begin with a sketch

Adding layers, detail, color

Until they complete their masterpiece

A Quick Case Study

Any idea what this is a sketch of?

“twttr sketch” Twitter.com

Twitter[This sketch] has very special significance – it's hanging in the office somewhere with one other page. Whenever I'm thinking about something, I really like to take out the yellow notepad and get it down. – Jack Dorsey, Twitter

Some Advice from the Experts

“The great benefit of drawing is that when you look at something, you see it for the first time.”- Milton Glaser

“There are techniques and processes whereby we can put experience front and center in design. My belief is that the basis for doing so lies in extending the traditional practice of sketching.”

- Bill Buxton

Attributes of a Sketch

•Quick

•Timely

•Inexpensive

•Disposable

•Plentiful

•Clear vocabulary

•Distinct gesture

•Minimal detail

•Appropriate degree of refinement

•Suggest & explore rather than confirm

•Ambiguity

Bill BuxtonSketching User Experiences

"There is no more powerful way to prove that we know something well than to draw a simple picture of it. And there is no more powerful way to see hidden solutions than to pick up a pen and draw out the pieces of our problem."

Dan RoamThe Back of the Napkin

Collaborative Sketching

For the purposes of today’s workshop, sketching is …

•Quick•Simple•Collaborative

All the tools you need:

PaperSharpies

Photo by JasonTank, Flickr

Defining Collaborative Sketching

Origins• Rooted in Design Studio Methodology• Grew out of industrial design and architecture• No “rockstars”• Different versions/methods• For example, Todd Zaki Warfel, Message First, talks

about …• Create. Pitch. Critique.• 6.8.5 game

Methodology• Sketch• Limit your time• Don’t worry about mistakes or style

Goals• Benefit from the participation of your colleagues• Communicate ideas effectively by visualizing them• Quickly generate ideas and refine through

iterations

Process:

1. Discuss2. Sketch3. Share4. Revise

Discuss

• Discuss the experience you’re sketching• What’s its purpose?• What features are necessary?• How would you prioritize them?• What’s the audience?

• However, you are not discussing layout or design• Just the problem you’re trying to solve• No sketching yet

Sketch

• Sketch silently• Limit your time – 5, 10 minutes• Sketch as much has possible, as many different

ideas as possible• Emphasis is on quantity of ideas not quality of

sketches

Share

• Review your work with your team• Keep it short – 60 seconds each• You provide feedback to others

• What you like • Questions about didn’t work for you• You’re not grilling your colleagues and this is

not a competition

Revise

• Now begin your wireframe with a more informed view, more and better ideas

• And sketch again if you need to

Now, it’s your turn

Our Exercise

What to do?

Our Exercise: A home page for Events.com

• A website for finding local events– Listed by category– Listed by date– Listed by … what else?

• Who is the audience?– Locals– Tourists– Event promoters

Also, consider other event sites you’re familiar with. This will be your “competitive analysis”

In teams, sketch your ideas

1. Take 10 minutes to discuss what features belong here

2. Sketch your ideas silently for 10 minutes

3. Share your sketches with your team

4. Sketch again, incorporating what you learned from others

Discuss

Sketch

Share

Revise

Our Exercise:

Our Exercise:

1. Take 10 minutes to discuss what features belong here

Our Exercise:

2. Sketch your ideas silently for 10 minutes

Our Exercise:

3. Share your sketches with your team

Our Exercise:

4. Sketch again, incorporating what you learned from others

Some Resources

Books

Sketching Tools

The following apps are all for the iPad:

• Adobe Ideas • Bamboo Paper • Muji Notebook • Penultimate • SketchBook Pro• Paper

Prototyping

AppSeedCurrently in development, this Kickstarter project lets you to turn your app sketches into working mobile prototypes

“Sketching is simply the fastest way to test ideas and visually brainstorm”– Greg Goralski, AppSeed creator

• Introduction to Design Studio Methodology http://uxmag.com/articles/introduction-to-design-studio-methodology

• The Design Studio Method – Presentation by Todd Zaki Warfelhttps://vimeo.com/37861987

Further Study

Thank you

www.slideshare.net/stribs