Model making is the fundamental craft of design—it is the process of thinking with your hands. Low-fidelity sketch models make it easy to generate a number of tangible concept ideas without significant monetary or time investment, allowing you to bring form to even nascent ideas.

Using readily available, low-cost materials such as paper, markers, cardboard, foam core, glue, and so forth, you can quickly create concept models for people to evaluate. The sooner you create something tangible for people to touch and manipulate, the earlier you’ll get meaningful feedback about your ideas. You can use rough models to help identify ideas that are working, as well as pinpoint weaknesses early in the process so they can be addressed before the concept is finalized. As architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, “You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site.”

• Promotes a shared vision of the future.
• Helps you test ideas quickly.
• Lowers development costs through early discovery.
• Helps you make iterative improvements.

• Identify an idea or concept to develop.
• Assemble a small design team.
• Gather basic materials (e.g., pen, paper, tape, etc).
• Consider what you want to learn from the prototype.
• Select a scenario and a few key tasks to focus on.
• Build a rough approximation of the concept.
• Simulate as much functionality as possible.
• Include some realistic and readable content.
• Provide a signal for the areas that are incomplete.

• Apply good craftsmanship, but don’t belabor it.
• Be resourceful. Make clever use of found objects.
• Use role-play to simulate personal interactions.