http://www.mkp.com
http://www.mkp.com/sketching

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‘bigger, better, faster and the solution to all your problems.’ we have all heard it all before,
new products promising the world. however the truth is that these products rarely deliver and
often create more problems than they solve. as author bill buxton argues in ‘sketching user
experiences’, the explanation is an over reliance on technology and an absence of design.

design, buxton believes, has an immense variety of skills and methods which when used
effectively can insure that products are developed to actually succeed. in today’s world
designers can’t rest on their laurels, technology continually progresses and designers need
to face this challenge by building on their existing skills and practise, not replacing them.
the skill he believes holds the most potential is sketching.

while designers will no doubt be familiar with sketching, many form the world of business
and technology are not. sketching, as buxton defines, is an overarching perspective and
approach rather than a single technique. in sketching, nothing is final, everything can be
changed, modified and freely evolved. but sketching takes many forms beyond pen on
paper. buxton explains that with new technologies must come new methodologies for
sketching. in the book, he explains these new approaches and illustrates them thoroughly
with case studies and examples.

by using the principles of sketching, buxton hopes to expand an understanding of design
thinking beyond designers but also to the people they work with. this holistic approach allows
individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds to find common ground, shaping more
informed product development. as the book’s subtitle emphasises, an important part of this
new approach is a balance of the development phase and ideation: ‘getting the design right
and the right design.’ with this new approach and plethora of new techniques, buxton hopes
the product’s of the future will enable technology to benefit society and deliver on their
promises.

this book is well-suited to designers of all kinds especially those experimenting with new
technologies. however it more broadly reaches out to people in business, engineering and
computer science. it’s casual tone is easy to follow and the rich examples provide concrete
evidence of book’s principles at work.














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designboom ratings:

......................... interesting
................... good read, worth a look
............. very good
....... excellent, recommended
. must have
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