Reading Responses

For Sunni Brown’s “The Miseducation of the Doodle”:

I’m a visual learner so I’ve always liked doodling to help myself think. Sometimes it’s listing things down so I can concentrate on tasks on hand or adding silly marks to help myself memorize boring materials.

However, I’ve never really thought that there are “techniques” or strategies behind doodling. It’s refreshing to think about doodling in an analytical perspective and strip it down to 6 essential components.

I also really like her idea of incorporating doodling into group activities to help colleagues focus on important tasks and directions. But I think in reality it’ll be a bit hard to execute since it might be hard to get everyone on board at first. But I know that a lot of companies incorporate sketching into their brainstorming processes in the design department so hopefully it’ll become more and more common!

For Mike Rohde’s “Sketching: the Visual Thinking Power Tool“:

First of all, he’s really good at sketching.

His idea that the main purpose of sketching is functional resonates with me. When I was first required to sketch and show my ideas in design classes I was self-conscious about not being able to draw perfectly or create a master piece that “wow” everyone. It wasn’t until when I started working that I realized drawing a pretty image isn’t the point. I’m not a painter, my job is to communicate my ideas with others clearly.

It was hard to communicate with the engineers about my ideas when I worked on the platform team at first. It felt like we were never on the same page – they didn’t understand what I was envisioning, and I didn’t understand their requests and questions. So I started to live-sketch when having detailed discussions to visualize abstract concepts. And it worked perfectly because they could understand what I was talking about and gave me necessary critiques even though the drawings were messy. 

I still feel a bit hesitant to show people my sketches especially after they know that I’m a designer (in my head I imagine people judging me and saying things like “but Nancy, you’re a designer! Why can’t you draw?”). But I’ve learned now that it’s not about how well I can draw, it’s about how clear my ideas are for myself and for others to understand.