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
B
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.