Dustin Senos shared how getting value from creating wireframes eluded him early in his career. Now, every bit of his work benefits from this practice. What changed? He started using paper.
I want to share a simple technique I now use to force myself to explore and validate multiple directions before I dive into visual design. For the rest of this article, a “wireframe” is a sketch on paper. Paper wireframes are quick to make and reinforce that ideas are cheap and safe to throw away. Paper, also allows anyone on the team to take part in wireframing.
His approach changed from sketching one solution and then adding fidelity, to sketching multiple potential solutions and finding the right one before moving on.
Not a designer? I think this idea works just as well for most anything. When I find myself stuck, staring blankly at the screen, I walk away and find either a whiteboard or a large piece of paper. The act of putting writing implement to writing surface (aka “pen to paper”) results in ideas. This has worked as well for me with writing or project planning as design.
Use your hands and wait for the magic to happen.
