Sketching: From Ideation to Concept Development

Overview

Design is not a straight path, and we often fall back into our comfort zone of designing what we know. Sketching is the designer’s tool for exploring ideas – a technique often underutilized by user experience designers. Bill Buxton describes sketching as a way of thinking through the design problem. Liz Sanders has developed tools, which enable teams to co-design. Adaptive Path uses Sketchboards. All are generative in nature.

The challenge is how to get started and stay focused. And get over our fears of putting pen to paper.

This workshop you will put pen to paper and try out different ways to sketch. You’ll try out different techniques, learn some simple drawing techniques and leave your fear of sketching behind.

Workshop includes:

• Ideation – six-up thumbnails, sketchboarding, storyboards
• Layout and Detail – simple drawing techniques for wireframes and detailed sketches
• Sketching Experiences – how to sketch time and transitions
• Sketches for Evaluation – using models to test ideas
• An overview of resources available online to support sketching

Bio

Sarah Bloomer has created user interface designs and customer experiences for over 20 years. She co-founded The Hiser Group in 1991, an interaction design company with a focus on user-centered design. Through Hiser she helped establish the field of user-centered design in Australia.

Sarah’s interaction design draws on her experience designing GUIs for multiple platforms, from Motif to Windows and web applications, intranet and internet websites for both corporations and government. Sarah helps clients set up internal user centered design teams and establish strategies for bringing user centered design into their organizations.

Since returning to the USA in 2002, Sarah has worked at The MathWorks as a senior interaction designer, Constant Contact as Director of User Experience. and established Boston based Sarah Bloomer & Co to focus on design research, design facilitation and UX mentoring.

Sarah has delivered papers, tutorials and workshops at respected usability and user experience conferences in Australia, Asia and the USA. Her articles have appeared in international professional publications. She has taught user centered design and screen design to hundreds of practitioners.