Collaborative Sketching for UX - as presented by Robert Stribley at Razorfish, NYC, 10/22/13

1. Collaborative Sketching for UX
Robert Stribley
10/22/13

3. Arguably, we’ve
been sketching for
eons

4. 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

5. Why sketch?
• Enable communication
• Make abstract
concepts concrete
• Iterate on ideas
• Jumpstart
collaboration
• Ensure recollection
• Humanize ideas

6. What can I sketch?
• Home pages
• Category pages
• Product pages
• Wizards & widgets
• Search results
• Process Flows
• Anything, really

7. And there’s so
much more to
sketch for …
• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Google Glass
• iWatches
• Responsive design
• Ubiquitous
computing

8. Who can sketch?
• Information architects
• Interaction designers
• Graphic designers
• Content strategists
• Project managers
• Business analysts
• Functional analysts
• Developers
• Client directors

9. Really, anyone can
sketch
Cartoon by XKCD

10. A few ways we sketch at
Razorfish:
•
•
•
•
•
Solo
Sketch to comp
Communicate to client
Storyboarding
As a team – collaboratively

11. What sketching isn’t …
• Sketching isn’t only for
designers
• Sketching isn’t difficult
• Sketching isn’t drawing
You don’t need to be
Michelangelo to participate

12. However, we can
learn from the pros

13. Who often begin
with a sketch

14. Adding layers, detail,
color

15. Until they complete
their masterpiece

16. A Quick Case Study

17. Any idea what this is a sketch of?

18. 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
“twttr sketch”
Twitter.com

19. Some Advice from the Experts

20. “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
Bill Buxton
Sketching User
Experiences

21. 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 Buxton
Sketching User
Experiences

22. "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 Roam
The Back of the
Napkin

24. Collaborative Sketching

25. For the purposes
of today’s
workshop,
sketching is …
•Quick
•Simple
•Collaborative

26. All the tools you
need:
Paper
Sharpies
Photo by JasonTank, Flickr

27. 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

28. 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

29. Process:
1. Discuss
2. Sketch
3. Share
4. Revise

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. Revise
• Now begin your wireframe with a more informed
view, more and better ideas
• And sketch again if you need to

37. Now, it’s your turn

38. Our Exercise

39. What to do?

40. Our Exercise:
A home page for Events.com
• A website for finding local events
– Listed by category
– Listed by date
– Listed by ???
• Who is the audience?
– Personas

41. Our Exercise:
Consider other
event sites you’re
familiar with. This
will be your
“competitive
analysis”

42. Our Exercise:
In teams, sketch your ideas.
Events.com Home Page
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

43. Our Exercise:
1. Take 10 minutes to discuss what features
belong here

44. Our Exercise:
2. Sketch your ideas silently for 10 minutes

45. Our Exercise:
3. Share your sketches with your team

46. Our Exercise:
4. Sketch again, incorporating what you
learned from others

47. Some Resources

49. Online Reading & Viewing
Introduction to Design Studio Methodology
http://uxmag.com/articles/introduction-to-design-studio-methodology
The Design Studio Method – Presentation by
Todd Zaki Warfel
https://vimeo.com/37861987

50. Sketching Tools
The following apps are all
for the iPad:
• Adobe Ideas
• Bamboo Paper
• Muji Notebook
• Penultimate
• SketchBook Pro
• Paper

51. Prototyping With
Sketches
AppSeed
Currently a Kickstarter
projects, AppSeed allows
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

52. thanks
www.slideshare.net/stribs