Before starting work on a prototype, begin with sketching your idea out. Sketching is an important part of the initial design process. It is a quick, fluid way to represent an idea and is inexpensive, rapid, portable (can be done anywhere, even on the go!) and you are not committed to put in details. You can create as many sketches as you want as they are quick to make and have minimal detail in them. Sketches can be done on any medium and do not require a device or internet connectivity and yet offer the powerful ability to see things from a different perspective just by changing the angle of the paper they are drawn on. They can be used in the design process in many different ways. As they have minimal details and can be interpreted in more than one way, this opens an opportunity to facilitate a conversation about other design possibilities without having people to focus on the merits or demerits of a particular solution.
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh.
Advantages Of Sketching
Helps in jotting down the problem first which helps you better understand the problem..
A quick reflection of your ideas, in essence a rapid prototype of the prototype!
Quick, cheap and medium/location agnostic
Many variations possible of a potential design idea to choose from, creating lots of different ideas quickly, focuses on quantity over quality and helps quick collaboration with absolutely anyone that you converse with.
Suggests possibilities and opportunities, elaborates on an idea
Effective form of communication to get quick feedback on that particular stage of the design process
Allows for greater potential to think laterally as the medium (paper) can be rotated or moved giving an entirely new perspective. Also goes a long way in helping the designer get unstuck when you run out of ideas!
A lot of emphasis is put towards creating prototypes during the design phase, which is very effective no doubt but, digital tools will emphasise on unnecessary details like precise layout, font etc.. which probably are not appropriate for this design stage. Dragging and slotting the design components in place is also more time consuming as compared to quickly sketching out layouts.
A sketch can be/is a prototype as it is a representation of a design idea. Digital prototypes can be used to test and elaborate the sketched ideas to assess the best resolution for the design problem.
Sketches don’t have to be good, they just have to be effective enough to reflect your design ideas and to communicate it effectively.
Ideas To Start Sketching
The good thing about sketching is that once you have understood the importance of sketching, there are many ways of going about it.
A collaborative thinking approach, is to generate ideas from a group and capture them with as many sketches as possible.
Individual thinking approach works well when you have created as many sketches as you can and have run out of ideas. Pick the worst design idea you think you made and try to improve on it by asking yourself the question, “why is this particular design the worst?”
"Designs from the past should be used whether good or bad, to inform future designs"… with this in mind, when you have run out of ideas you can also look for failed designs/bad ideas and try to fix them. Chances are that something might just catch your eye which will give you the right direction in moving forward.
You will be surprised in seeing how many different ideas can be generated by following the above techniques. These are just a few pointers, you can create your own technique which best fits your designing and ideation process.
Do not jump over to the prototyping tools immediately to create your prototypes. Sketching is the best Lo-fi prototyping tool that you have.
The Take Away
Sketching is a great way to lay out your foundation for prototyping. It is inexpensive and easy to execute. Develop as many possible design ideas as you can to use them as a communication tool to get a quick feedback on the potential design ideas moving forward. Use the prototype tools for assessment of the usability of the sketches.
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