On Saturday, UX professionals from coast to coast got together for a day of discovery, skill-building, drawing, and fun! It was Sketchcamp San Diego, and man was it one heck of a day!
While I’m not a UX designer, I love this community and learned a lot during this conference. Here are my big takeaways from the sessions I attended:
“What You Draw Is Good Enough,” with Jeannel King (@jeannelking)
Yes, okay, this was my session. But hey, I was there, so let’s share my top insights!
If the audience only remembered one thing from my presentation on Saturday, I wanted it to be this:
What you draw is good enough!
Now, this is more than a message for me: it’s a mantra, it’s my manifesto. This is a message that resonates in my BONES, people! But I’ve never sat down and captured this message for an audience before… and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do so. Because that process allowed me to discover my own, deeper takeaway… which is in reality the true core of my “good enough” message:
What you draw is “good enough”… because WHO YOU ARE is GOOD ENOUGH. (Dammit!)
At least one person got the message during the conference, too. Check out all the cool “good enough” drawings that folks did at Sketchcamp!
… and if you missed out on the presentation, you can view the slide deck here. (Or, most of it, at any rate. SlideShare’s conversion algorithm seem a bit tweaky right now… )
[slideshare id=14639594&doc=whatyoudrawisgoodenough-jeannelking-121008131830-phpapp02]
“Practical Sketchnoting,” with Jason Alderman (@justsomeguy)
I have to admit, as a Stick Figure Strategist, I was already pretty familiar with sketchnoting. And Jason’s session provided a great – and practical – introduction for those who were new to the practice. However, he also shared a great gem that was a game-changer for my own drawing ability. As a non-trained sketcher, this one suggestion allowed me to actually create a sketch that actually LOOKED like the person I was sketching:
Get the hair right, then capture the shape of the face.
Check it out!
“Sketchy at Best: Sketching to maximize efficiency in a lean environment,” with Sean Gilbie and Johnny Lane (@seangilbie and @MrJohnnyLane)
Like I said earlier, I’m not a UX designer. However, Sean and John walked us through a simple-yet-powerful mini-experience of using sketching as an early collaborative step in designing a solution for a user problem. The process mapped quite nicely with my own for visual coaching and facilitation, while introducing some new pieces I hadn’t been doing. This workshop experience showed me that:
Learning more about Lean UX totally compliments and enriches my own practice!
“Sketching Like a Human,” with Drew Wilson (@drewwilson)
Before I talk about Drew’s talk, I have to talk about Drew. Holy Cats, people! Seriously! This guy launches more products in a DAY than I’ll every create in my LIFE! He must be able to clone himself like Dr. Manhattan can so he can work on eight things at the same time. I don’t know how he does it.
Well, actually, that’s not true. Drew’s secret was my biggest takeaway from his session:
When creating, build the things you want for yourself.
As someone who also owns her own business, I couldn’t agree more! Now, if I could just master that whole cloning thing…
” Draw Like A Six-Year Old,” with Phil McAndrew (@philmcandrew)
Phil’s creative process is as beautiful as his work. Being a gal who typically does her drawings in the moment during meetings and events, it was a treat to get to peek inside of Phil’s brain at the process he uses to generate ideas for a piece, and to refine those ideas into a finished illustration… all within the lovely ritual of a coffeehouse visit.
I used to love creating at coffeehouses… I had simply forgotten. Thanks, Phil, for this well-timed takeaway and reminder:
Creative rituals provide a framework for the magic to happen.
“A Sketch is Worth One Thousand Words: Using sketching as a communication and collaboration tool,” with Aaron Irizzary (@aaroni)
Aaron was the perfect speaker to bring Sketchcamp San Diego full-circle, weaving insights from earlier presentations within this one common thread:
In order to achieve collaboration, you must first have effective communication. As the ultimate communication tool, sketching provides the bridge from communication to collaboration.
A to the Men, my friend. A to the Men…
What About You??
What were your big takeaways from Sketchcamp San Diego?? (Not yet having mastered the cloning trick, I was sadly unable to attend every session.) Share your insights here, and let’s share the learning!
Thanks for this write up Jeannel! And thanks for the kind words about my session. You did a great job kicking things off and helping attendees get comfortable with the topic of sketching.