Electronic Cocktail Napkin
Diagrams and Sketches in Design
In all design domains (from software to submarines), diagrams and sketches play a key role in the conceptual, formative phases. We want to support this drawing and sketching, the kind you might do on the back of an envelope or on a cocktail napkin. It is quick and rough, but it lets you explore and explain basic alternatives quickly.
Computer based drawing tools (CAD software) are useless for this kind of drawing. They require more commitment, precision, and effort than is appropriate for conceptual design. You choose from menus, place and size elements precisely, and there is no room for ambiguity.
But with a pencil you draw exactly what you want and no more, and you can draw it quickly and easily. After working out basic concepts and principles of a design in a diagram or sketch, you go on to develop the drawing further, adding detail, straightening lines. As you move toward "schematic design" traditional CAD tools become more useful.
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