5 tips to make ideation sketching approachable to all

Drawing and brainstorming are for everyone, not just designers or “creatives.”

2 people drawing boxes, lines, shapes, etc. to describe ideas on a whiteboard. Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

What is ideation?

Ideation is a process of generating many ideas in an open-minded environment. In the design thinking process, we ideate once we have completed discovery research and defined our problem statement, usually in the form of a how-might-we statement.

When to use sketching as an ideation tool

Sketching is a great method of putting thoughts to paper, whether it be when describing thoughts to colleagues or brainstorming new solutions individually and as a group. You can share thoughts regarding anything from strategy to design to user flows through sketches.

Rapid sketching exercises are especially useful to generate lots of ideas at once. Of course, these won’t all be revolutionary, out-of-this-world ideas, but that’s not really the point. The point is to have a large, varied amount of thoughts to work from and build upon as a group.

Here are a few instances where sketching exercises come in handy in my experience as a user experience researcher:

• Brainstorming new designs or solutions individually and collectively
• Sharing raw, malleable ideas with a group
• Collaborating to iterate upon an existing concept
• Designing new visualizations of complex information

How to make sketching approachable

The main rule for myself when I’m facilitating sketching exercises is to make it an open, non-judgmental environment. Here are a few ways I try to accomplish that:

1. Emphasize that this is a low-stakes exercise when introducing ideation as a concept.

Explain that ideation is a way for everyone to spitball and generate lots of ideas. The rule here is quantity over quality.

2. Say there are “no bad ideas” and mean it.

• We’re all prone to snap judgements, and ideation is a time to push back on that instinct. Remember, ideation is a starting point. No idea is perfect at first.
• When you stay open-minded, you’ll find there is usually a valuable takeaway from each idea, even if your initial reaction is to label it a bad idea and dismiss it.
• Ask questions to learn more about the sketcher’s intentions, and collaborate to incorporate those insights with other ideas. This is where innovation occurs.
• In addition, while some ideas may appear complete and ready to move forward with, the best ideas often come from collaborative iteration. There is always room for improvement.

3. Provide various approaches to sketching (action-based, using words, stick figures/boxes, etc.)

• People can have specific ideas of what’s expected of them when they see the word “sketch.” Explain that the focus is not on drawing a polished picture, and the idea will not be judged on how “pretty” or aesthetically pleasing it is drawn.
• Encourage any method that makes sense to them and helps them get their idea out on paper. Provide examples of these various approaches.

Examples of sketches depicting ideas through various methods. 1) Interface design elements, 2) Actions using arrows and stick-figures, and 3) Testable copy.

4. Share a personal story about how sketching exercises make you feel.

• Asking people to draw can elicit some tense reactions. We can ease people’s worries by sharing our own initial experiences with sketching and acknowledging the emotions it brought up for us.
• For example, my colleague Nora did this recently by sharing an example of a sketch she’d produced through a similar ideation exercise. She discussed her feelings about drawing, how it can be intimidating, and showed how “unfinished” her sketch appeared. This allowed others to take a breath of relief and internalize the message that we really are just spitballing ideas.
• Explain that everyone should aim to get their idea across, not to be artistic. People do not need to be artistic to be creative, despite that common misconception.

Nora’s low-fidelity sketch, which includes circles and text snippets. She attached a text bubble stating “Hi, I’m one of Nora’s sketches from a similar exercise. See how not-finished I look?”

5. Give everyone equal time to share their idea(s) to the group.

• Everyone wants to feel heard, and providing avenues to share their voice can be a helpful motivator for sketching.
• If you have asked people to give up time in their day to dedicate to ideation, consider providing opportunities for all to voice their opinions.
• In ideation sessions, we generally have a variety of roles in the room. Each person brings insight that is nuanced and necessary.
• You may consider facilitating an anonymized presentation of the ideas to manage varying authority levels in the room or other difficult team dynamics. One example of this is the gallery walk described in the Poster Session activity in Gamestorming, a book which details various techniques to generate creative, innovative ideas through engaging games in the workplace.

Example of silent viewing and feedback of sketches. Ideation participants view all the sketches silently, at once. They put dot stickers on parts of the sketch they like, and add questions to sketches using sticky notes (no sticky notes pictured).

Ideation is generally a phase of design thinking where everyone gets excited, especially if they have been waiting to share ideas. The way we facilitate brainstorming and sketching can determine the quality of our session outputs. By emphasizing low-stakes and creating a judgement-free space, we support creativity and innovation.

The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published in our platform. This story contributed to Bay Area Black Designers: a professional development community for Black people who are digital designers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area. By joining together in community, members share inspiration, connection, peer mentorship, professional development, resources, feedback, support, and resilience. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.