In different combinations, sketching
can support all stages of the research
process. And it doesn’t have to be perfect,
neat, or photorealistic—“Ideas not art” is
the mantra of the sketch-informed.
perspectives and styles (Figure 2).
We break, return, and continue
with a master class in photo tracing
and scene composition. In one corner,
the daughter of two participants
joins in, drawing spectacular dragons
with sparkling ferocity, while her
parents apply their newfound skills to
storyboarding (Figure 3).
We culminate our activities with a
lively session of HCI Improv (Figure
4), an audience-participation activity
where teams compete to create
products, services, and scenarios for
randomly generated users, problems,
and contexts, before turning our
attention to the task of sketch analysis:
how we code, analyze, and generate
requirements from sketched imagery.
By the end of the session, all
attendees are sketching user
experiences, scenarios, and hoping
to take their skills back to centers of
research and learning. We pick up the
papers left behind, cheered by how
little remains of the created works,
thus confirming their value to the
participants. However, our work does
not begin, or end, here.

SKETCHING AT CHI

Sketching is an unsung hero of many
parts of the academic-research process
but could be seen as the remit of the
few, cherished practitioners with the
confidence to wield pencil and paper in
the public domain. However, sketching
in HCI goes beyond traditional mark
making; it can be an integral part of
focused research projects, aimed at
elaborating upon this human activity in
the age of the computer.
S
at school. Reengaging with sketching at
a later age may require more effort—or
a leap of faith—but it is no more out
of reach to the average HCI researcher
than learning a few words in a foreign
language. N’est-ce pas?

LEARNING APPLIED SKETCHING AT CHI ’ 18

Breaking down the perceived barriers to starting again, and simply gaining confidence in sketching, are the biggest challenges. We focused on these as part of the “Applied Sketching in HCI” course launched this year at CHI [ 2], a hybrid tutorial based on previous successful events by the authors, offering a hands-on overview of how sketching can be (re)learned, utilized, and analyzed as part of the HCI research process.

The non-exhaustive list of uses for sketching in HCI spans the recording of information (visual note-taking, such as sketchnoting or visual facilitation for groups; for more on sketchnoting, see Blog@IX on page 6); journeys of self-discovery (subjective sketching practice as a method of investigation); co-creation of sketches; telling user

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stories; sketching as data collection; and sketching analysis or coding. In different combinations, sketching can thus support all stages of the research process. And it doesn’t have to be perfect, neat, or photorealistic—“Ideas not art” is the mantra of the sketch-informed. In fact, it is the ephemeral, often lightweight nature of sketches that makes them ideal for suggestion, alternative interpretation, and evolution.

We start our session with a basic warm-up task called mark making (lines, circles, and swirls), using a stark black pen. There are no mistakes here, so pencils and erasers are not permitted. We look at people—our users—and how they move and express themselves, and try to capture something of their humanity. We tell stories, give examples, and sketch along together (Figure 1); the atmosphere is inclusive, encouraging, and most of all, creative.

We bring together a visual library of iconography relating to different disciplines within HCI, the Post-it notes spanning meters and meters of the session-room wall, suggesting different

Figure 2. Everyone in the CHI sketching course joins in when creating the icon library.