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Information Architecture, User Experience Design, prototype, Sketch, wireframe
Start Sketching: Sometimes Perfect Lines Can Get in the Way of Creative Thinking February 5th, 2010
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Anyone involved with building a web site can benefit from sketching from time to time. It’s a natural activity. We’ve all sketched as kids, whether it was a detailed masterpiece or a stick figure. Sketching removes the intimidating wall not only between Information Architects and the team, but also between IAs and the task-at-hand.
Traditionally, (IAs) have been expected to deliver fine-tuned, pixel-perfect, annotated wireframe beauties. These documents are pretty and borderline intimidating, aren’t they? Many times, or probably most times, architecture should be well-thought out and documented down to the very last link. But we all have our own working styles to get to that final product. Some IAs are magicians and can pull a page layout out of thin air, just like that student who never had to study for a test. Others wrestle with content hierarchy, user needs, business needs, and any technical limitations until the beast has been conquered and a page layout is visualized.
IAs can get writers’ block too – or I guess architects’ block. Sometimes it’s hard to look at a blank document and know where to begin. Deadlines weigh heavy on our shoulders, and we monkeys are expected to perform. Designers and developers are eagerly waiting for direction, and are walking on eggshells wondering how they could help. (They’ve got brilliant ideas to share, too!) Clients often have to take a leap of faith and trust the entire process, not fully understanding what IA means and what it entails. These moments happen regularly when the information architecture is being developed; so many opportunities for brilliant solutions to be discovered, for teams to grow stronger, and for clients to truly experience and therefore understand how their Web site will blossom into something beautiful.
Recently, I decided to put sketching into practice. I was tasked with architecting the complete structure for a major website prototype in two weeks. Knowing this was a prototype, and therefore it did not have to be perfect, I gave myself the freedom to sketch. I warned the client they would not be seeing typical wireframes, and emphasized the team effort needed to bring this prototype to life quickly. Hence, I said, my sketches would be open for discussion and iteration. While traditional wireframes are often open to be discussed too, their perception can be deceiving. Teams often feel that what they’re seeing on a beautiful “finished” wireframe is complete and they have a hard time believing they can change something without blowing up the entire structure.
See if sketching works for you. If you feel comfortable bringing others into the room, do it. If you want to first sketch on your own and then revise it with others, do it. Sketching is meant to be a looser process. From a sketch, you can determine if a more detailed wireframe is needed. Sometimes a sketch will suffice.
As far as the tools you use to sketch, that’s up to you. Paper and pencil or dry erase marker and whiteboard may be sufficient. Or you may choose to use a stencil in your favorite wireframe program. For my project, I did a little research around sketching stencils for both Visio and Omnigraffle. In the end, I decided to download the Omnigraffle stencil. I felt it gave me more options and looked more realistic or sketch-like. And for $10, I couldn’t go wrong. Download it here on Konigi.
For an inspirational read about sketching, I suggest: Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design, by Bill Buxton
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