Our aim is to introduce techniques that allow for active involvement of users throughout the design process, starting with the very early stages of ideation and exploration. The approach discussed in this study augments conventional usability testing with a user sketching component. We found that enabling users to sketch their ideas facilitated reflection, and provided a rich medium for discovery and communication of design ideas. We believe that this technique has the potential to complement usability testing in general, in order to generate “reflective ” as opposed to purely “reactive ” user feedback.

Abstract—Informal visualization in the form of sketching and diagramming has long been an established practise of professionals working in the fields of design, architecture, and engineering. Less is known, however, about the sketching and diagramming practices of computer scientists and software developers. Through a series of interviews with computer science researchers who develop software, we probed the purpose, contexts, and media in which they created and re-created sketches and diagrams, and the ways in which these informal visualizations evolved over time. Through our analysis we created visualizations of the observed sketching and diagramming lifecycles, which can contribute to a better understanding of the roles of sketching and diagramming in software development. I.

this document.) Data points are collected as a time sequenced (x,y) points sampled along the stylus' trajectory. The program gathers these points and attempts to fit one of the two types of geometric primitives: (1) A straight line segment, or (2) An arc segment of a circle. We refer to this process as `segmentation '. Figure 5 shows an example. The figure on the left corresponds to the unprocessed ink as obtained directly from the digitizing tablet. The figure on the right shows the resulting symbol after segmentation

Our aim is to introduce techniques that allow for active involvement of users throughout the design process, starting with the very early stages of ideation and exploration. The approach discussed in this study augments conventional usability testing with a user sketching component. We found that enabling users to sketch their ideas facilitated reflection, and provided a rich medium for discovery and communication of design ideas. We believe that this technique has the potential to complement usability testing in general, in order to generate “reflective ” as opposed to purely “reactive ” user feedback. Author Keywords

By examining the diagrams of technology users, we can gain insight into their perceptions. In this study, we collected diagrams from 41 participants showing users ' relationships to technology. We found that these participants make use of both shape and position to differentiate themselves from the technology, and to differentiate hardware devices from software applications. Most users also draw direct connections between themselves and their applications, bypassing in their diagrams the devices that mediate this communication. Thus, devices may recede from awareness as we focus on applications and the information they make available.

Digital social media have transformed how we communicate and manage our relationships. Despite its portability, sketching as a social medium has been largely left behind. Given sketching’s unique affordances for visual communication this absence is a real loss. Sketches convey visuo-spatial ideas directly, require minimal detail to render concepts, and show the peculiarities of handwriting. Sketching holds the promise to enrich how we communicate, and its ubiquity is critical for sharing information at opportune moments. We present the results of an exploratory field study of ubiquitous sketching for social media, documenting users ’ experiences with UbiSketch. This system integrates digital pens, paper, and mobile phones to support the transmission of paper sketches to online services. We learned that UbiSketch enabled participants to leverage sketching’s unique affordances, that ubiquitous sketching creates a synergy with the practice of posting context-dependent information, and that it broadens and deepens social interaction.