Designing for sketching to support concept exploration

Abstract: Sketching is a way of exploring early concepts through the act of externalization in a suitable material with the aid of a suitable tool. One could use paper and sketch with a pencil or go digital and sketch with code. What is appropriate to choose depends on the situation and on the skillset of the person who is going to sketch. When sketching is done successfully, the externalization can “speak back” and thus engage the sketcher, and others, in a conversation leading to a better understanding of the sketched concepts as well as new concept ideas. This is thoroughly documented in literature – a typical example would be an architect sketching a site plan on a flat piece of paper and being able to read into the possible movements in the third-dimensional space. Sketching generally works like this in familiar, that is, idiomatic situations for experienced sketchers. In unfamiliar or non-idiomatic situations, existing sketching tools are inadequate for expressing and exploring early concepts. For novice sketchers, with limited sketching literacy, even attempting to sketch in an idiomatic situation can be challenging.Through three cases, I design for concept exploration by enabling sketching to understand how this can be done in new situations. The first case deals with expert sketchers exploring non-idiomatic situations: professional creatives working with fulldome format for visual communication. The second case deals with novice sketchers exploring non-idiomatic situations: design students working with virtual reality. The third case deals with novice sketchers exploring idiomatic situations: air traffic controllers working with finding alternative routes for aircraft in the airspace with automation support.I take a constructive design approach by making design examples and reflecting during and after the process. With the help of the design examples, I engage domain experts through participatory co-design workshops and elicit insights in order to inspire further design work. What I learn through this dynamic making-workshopping-and-reflecting process forms the foundation of the knowledge contribution. It is presented here as three design tactics on how sketching could be like to support concept exploration: 1) be responsive, 2) emulate salient material properties, and 3) be lightweight.