This document provides an overview of sketching and visual thinking techniques for designers. It includes links to resources on sketching, discusses the benefits of sketching over other visual representations, and provides lessons on basic sketching techniques like shapes, faces, people, lettering, arrows, frames, and callouts. The document emphasizes that sketching is a quick, inexpensive, and disposable way to visually explore ideas and concepts early in the design process.

2. SKETCHING
By James Norwood

3. SOME LINKS FOR YOU
http://www.alistapart.com/
http://www.uie.com/
http://v1.yaronschoen.com/
http://v4.jasonsantamaria.com/
http://designinformer.com/
http://52weeksofux.com/
http://404uxd.com/
http://www.adaptivepath.com/
http://www.graphicdesignblog.co.uk/
http://www.themoleskin.com/

4. YOU’LL ALSO WANT TO READ…
Sketching User Experiences.
Getting the design right and the right design.
Bill Buxton ISBN: 978-0-12-374037-3
…and some links :
http://www.billbuxton.com/
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MIX/MIX09/KEY01

6.
“The only true voyage of discovery is not to go
to new place, but to have others eyes.”
Marcel Proust

7. TO DOODLE

8. • To Doodle – “To Make spontaneous marks to
help yourself think”
• 29% greater retention of information – when
exposed to verbal information.
• Pre-emptive process to stop you from loosing
focus.
Sunni Brown – Doodling.

9. TO SKETCH

14. WHAT EXACTLY IS
VISUAL THINKING
using a visual approach to facilitate the
thought or problem solving process.
?

15. VISUAL THINKING
at its core is about discovery and exploring different
POSSIBILITIES
for making things clear and easy for people to
UNDERSTAND

16. COMMON
LANGUAGE,
METAPHORS &
ANALOGIES
to communicate, document and solve
problems and share common stories
Visual Thinking Goal

17. This isn’t a new skill. When we were children
THIS STUFF WAS
VERY SIMPLE FOR US
We just have to relearn some simple principles

18.
“If you want to get the most out of a sketch, you
need to leave big enough holes.”
Bill Buxton

19. YOUR MIND FILLS IN
THE GAPS

21. WHY SKETCHES ROCK!
According to Bill Buxton

22. QUICK
A sketch is quick to make, or at least gives that
impression.

23. TIMELY
A sketch can be provided when needed.

24. INEXPENSIVE
A sketch is cheap. Cost must not inhibit the
ability to explore a concept, especially early in
the design process.

25. DISPOSABLE
If you can’t afford to throw it away when done, it
is probably not a sketch. The investment with a
sketch is in the concept, not the execution. By
the way, this doesn’t mean that they have no
value, or that you always dispose of them.
Rather, their value largely depends on their
disposability.

26. CLEAR VOCABULARY
The style in which a sketch is rendered follows
certain conventions that distinguish it from other
types of renderings. The style, or form, signals
that it is a sketch. The way that lines extend
through endpoints is an example of such a
convention, or style.

27. DISTINCT GESTURES
There is a fluidity to sketches that give them a
sense of openness and freedom. They are not
tight and precise, in the sense that an
engineering drawing would be, for example.

28. MINIMAL DETAIL
Include only what is required to render the intended
purpose or concept. Lawson (1997, p242) puts it
this way, “… it is usually helpful if the drawing does
not show or suggest answers to questions which
are not being asked at the time.” Superfluous detail
is almost always distracting, at best, no matter how
attractive or well rendered. Going beyond “good
enough” is a negative, not a positive.

29. APPROPRIATE DEGREE OF
REFINEMENT
By its resolution or style, a sketch should not
suggest a level of refinement beyond that of the
project being depicted. As Lawson expresses it,
“ ... it seems helpful if the drawing suggests only
a level of precision which corresponds to the
level of certainty in the designer’s mind at the
time.”

30. AMBIGUITY
Sketches are intentionally ambiguous, and much
of their value derives from their being able to be
interpreted in different ways, and new
relationships seen within them, even by the
person who drew them.

31. SKETCHING WITH
PHYSICAL OBJECTS

32. TECH BOX at IDEO
It consists of hundreds of gadgets. Most are laid out on open
shelf-like drawers. Some are toys, and are just there because
they are clever, fun, or embody some other characteristic that
may inspire, amuse, or inform (or perhaps all three). Others
might be samples of materials that could be useful or relevant to
future designs. This might include flexible cloth-like fabric that
can also be used as a touch pad, or rubber that does not
bounce.

34. The CoWall
Sweden’s School of Arts and Communication’s

36. “…the fidelity of the sketch should reflect the
depth of our thinking. A rough idea deserves a
rough-looking sketch, while a well-thought-
through idea warrants finely drawn, detailed
imagery.”
Bill Buxton

37. SKETCH vs PROTYPE

39. “Sketches have a distinct vocabulary that
differentiates them from finished renderings. They
are not rendered at a resolution higher than is
required to capture their intended purpose or
concept. The resolution or style of the rendering
should not suggest a degree of refinement or
completion that exceeds the actual state of
development, or thinking, of the concept.”
Bill Buxton

44. HUNKERING

45. TO SKETCH OR NOT
TO SKETCH?

46. DESIGN IS A
COMPROMISE

47. DON’T BE PRECIOUS

48. WHY CLIENTS
LOVE
SKETCHES

49. “There are no dumb questions. There are no
ideas too crazy to consider. Get it on the table,
even if you are playing around. It may lead to
something.”
Bill Buxton

50. SKETCHING
TECHNIQUES

52. LESSON #1
MASTER BASIC SHAPES
What do I want you to know?
Most of the things we draw are made
up of seven basic shapes.
point rectangle
line oval
circle triangle
square
...AND VARIATIONS OF THOSE SHAPES

53. LESSON #2
MAKING FACES
What do I want you to know?
Drawing faces is all about learning to
see with an empathetic eye and
knowing that when you sketch you
aren’t trying to be Picasso... oh wait a
minute maybe you are....
eyes & eyebrows express A LOT
heads don’t have to be perfectly round
learn the basic patterns

55. LESSON #3
DRAWING PEOPLE
What do I want you to know?
This one is tough for all of us because
we aren’t observant and we start with
the wrong part of the body.
start with the torso
think about your own limbs
keep it simple
...ITS NOT ANATOMY CLASS...REALLY.

56. LESSON #4
LETTERING
What do I want you to know?
You will need to draw letters and
frames to divide sections in your
sketches or to explain & label
start with your natural handwriting
trace if necessary
go back to kindergarten

57. LESSON #5
ARROWS,CONNECTORS
What do I want you to know?
Arrows and connectors are used to
show the relationship between two
objects or to connect objects in a flow
diagram. Arrow can also be used to
direct a viewers attention in a certain
direction.

58. LESSON #6
FRAMES & CALLOUTS
What do I want you to know?
Frames will help you section your
sketches and create flows. They are
also good for illustrating relationships
in systems

59. LIFE DRAWING

61. LOGO SKETCHING

63. SITE SKETCHING