Make Your Stick Figures Work Harder: The 3 C's of Sketching

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Presented at Sketch Camp Chicago on November 2, 2013. Look inside a designer's toolkit and you'll likely find a broadly defined exercise called sketching. It's an exercise that can turn napkins, flip charts, whiteboards and 6-up templates into valuable assets containing everything from direction of business models to mobile app experiences. While a sketching exercise might produce an artifact seemingly simple to the uninitiated, great designers know the exercise requires design itself. By purposefully designing the exercise around the "3 C's" - communication, context and collaboration - we can increase participation and engagement by both design team members and stakeholders. In this session you'll learn about these three factors that are key to consider in planning and facilitating a sketching exercise. You'll also walk away with a handful of tips and tricks to try on your next project.

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MAKE YOUR STICK FIGURES WORK HARDER

The 3 C’s of Sketching

Jason Ulaszek @webbitSketch Camp Chicago

November 2, 2013

So, this sketching thing...

INTRO

2

@webbit

THE 3 C’S OF SKETCHING

1. Communication

2. Context

3. Collaboration

Let’s warm up.

EXERCISE

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@webbit

URBAN PUPSIt’s important to socialize your dog and make sure they get enough exercise, but for people who live in cities, this can be especially difficult to manage. Hectic schedules combined with limited access to dog-friendly public space results in many dogs spending their days cooped up in apartments.

Urban Pups is a new service that allows dog owners to swap pet care tips, find dog-friendly parks, and share insights and experiences. Whether you’re looking for a dog park in your area or just looking for house training suggestions, Urban Pups can help keep all of the pups in your community happy and healthy.

@webbit

YOUR ASSIGNMENT (PART 1)You’ve been hired to lead the UX practice at Urban Pups. As the lead UX designer, you’re now responsible for helping set the experience design strategy and direction for the soon-to-be-released mobile application. Until now, the company has only provided their service via a desktop site.

Your team consists of a junior UX designer, a project manager and a front-end developer. They’ve been doing the best they can to support the sales and marketing business stakeholders, but they haven’t been following much of a design process. This could be a great opportunity to introduce some sketching!

1. Draw the experience of a sketching activity.2. Consider communicating the process, the context of the experience and

collaboration amongst team members.3. You have 5 minutes.

Sketches communicate. You should too.

COMMUNICATION

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@webbit

Communication is one of the largest hurdles we face in the product design process.

“”

Aaron IrizarryProduct Designer, Nasdaq@aaroni

@webbit

SKETCHING CAN HELP

• Quickly communicates ideas & direction (early)

• Helps avoid roadblocks by inviting discussion

• Visually communicates concepts, flows & designs

• Engaging and fun - builds dynamic team

environment

@webbit

WE USE IT TO COMMUNICATE THE EXPERIENCE

@webbit

TO COMMUNICATE OUR FOCUS

OR

@webbit

OR EVEN BUSINESS IDEAS...

Source: “twttr sketch”, Jack DorseyMarch 24th, 2006

http://bit.ly/bKQPrd

@webbit

OR PHYSICAL PRODUCTS

Source: “Early sketch book”, Harley Davidson Museum,Milwaukee, Wisconsin

@webbit

OR SERVICES

http://bit.ly/Htn4lS

@webbit

BUT, EQUALLY IMPORTANT...

Source: “Sketching Interfaces”, Michael Angeleshttp://slidesha.re/SVgjaD

@webbit

COMMUNICATE EVALUATION

Source: “Sketching Interfaces”, Michael Angeleshttp://slidesha.re/SVgjaD

@webbit

COMMUNICATE THE PLAN

Source: “Good Design Faster: New Techniques for Creative Ideas”, Leah BuleyUI 15 2010

@webbit

SAMPLE PLAN - SKETCHBOARDING

@webbit

SHOW & TELL THE STORY OF THE PROCESS

@webbit

IT WILL HELP SET EXPECTATIONS

@webbit

KEY ELEMENTS TO COMMUNICATE

✓Assumptions you’re making

✓Structure and flow of the process

✓Roles team members will play

✓Level of fidelity rationale

✓Review and evaluation process

✓Anticipated outcome

Focus, depth and dynamics of the sketch experience.

CONTEXT

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@webbit

Don’t get focused on the screen. You want to pull back and consider the context. The experience.

“”

Peter MerholzVP of Design, Groupon@peterme

@webbit

The fidelity of a sketch should reflect the depth of your thinking.

INSIGHT

@webbit

FOCUS AND PURPOSE

• Sketching To Communicate An Idea

"Here's what I'm trying to tell you..."

• Sketching To Record What We're Seeing And Hearing

"This is what I want to remember..."

• Sketching To Work Through Some Thinking

"What will this look like?..."

• Sketching To Reflect What We're Hearing

"This is what I think you're telling me..."

• Sketching To Document

"Here's is what we've ended up with..."

Source: “Why We Sketch”, Jared Spoolhttp://www.uie.com/articles/why_sketching/

@webbit

COMMUNICATE AN IDEA

@webbit

RECORD WHAT WE’RE SEEING & HEARING

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WORK THROUGH SOME THINKING

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WORK THROUGH SOME THINKING

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SKETCHING TO DOCUMENT

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SKETCHING TO DOCUMENT

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SO, HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

Source: “Good Design Faster: New Techniques for Creative Ideas”, Leah BuleyUI 15 2010

@webbit

THE SKETCH MIGHT INCLUDE...

• Nouns – people, places and things

• Emotion – frustration, surprise, enjoyment, fear

• Descriptors – compare previous to the new

now, compare to competition

• Reaction of the system - personality, playfulness

• Systems and data involved (current and new)

• Design principles that you’re satisfying

... and the environment of the experience!

@webbit

SHARPIE MAKES YOU COMMIT

Source: “Good Design Faster: New Techniques for Creative Ideas”, Leah BuleyUI 15 2010

@webbit

OR TOOLS...

Work together to build understanding and fill in the gaps.

COLLABORATION

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@webbit

The goal is to move from the idea of designer as artiste towards a notion of designer as facilitator.

”Leah BuleyAuthor and UX Designer, Intuit@ugleah

@webbit

TYPICAL PROCESS

1. Ground yourself

2.Sketch

3.Share and evaluate

4.Refine

@webbit

ROLES IN COLLABORATION

•The pen

•The team (contributors)

•The sketch

•Moderator/instigator

•Parking lot

@webbit

FOR SOME TEAM MEMBERS, GETTING STARTED MIGHT BE CHALLENGING

@webbit

MAXIMIZE ENGAGEMENT

Do Don’t• Find inspiration• Work fast; generate more• Embrace constraints• Explain the experience (annotate)• Stop at ‘good enough’

• Be defensive• Focus on details early• Forget the purpose (big picture)

@webbit

GROUND EVERYONE BEFORE EVALUATING

@webbit

EVALUATION TIPS

• Clearly identify roles in the process - e.g.,

designer, moderator, etc.

• “Walk the data” before getting started

• Challenge common design patterns and

assumptions

• Refer back to inputs when needed

• Create three lists for each sketch -

advantages, disadvantages and open questions

@webbit

HAVE FUN WITH SKETCH-PROPS

@webbit

ADDITIONAL IDEAS

•Document the process and experience (it’ll help you next time)

•Scan the work for remote team

members or later recall

•Record screen casts and walk-throughs

@webbit

CREATE OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE

Let’s refine our earlier sketch.

EXERCISE

47

@webbit

YOUR ASSIGNMENT (PART 2)

1. Turn to the person next to you. 2.Explain your drawings to each other. 3.Now refine each other’s drawing to improve upon the

a. Communicationb. Contextc. Collaboration

4.You have 10 minutes.5.Then we’ll share.

What’s next?

WRAP UP

49

@webbit

I would add another “C” (CxCCC). Clarity of Communication, Clarity of Context, Clarity of Collaboration. Sketching does that on all the three aspects, and if something isn’t clear… ask why, involve more people, fill the gaps until it gets clear.

”Davide CasaliAuthor and UX Designer, Automattic@folletto

@webbit

Communication

Context

Collaboration

Clarity

@webbit

Let’s eradicate illuphobia. Is that even a word? It is now.

“”Brandy AgerbeckArtist & Graphic Facilitator, Loosetooth@loosetooth

Thank you.

FIN

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