Tablets, Pens, and Pencils: The Influence of Tools on Sketching in Early Stage Design

Abstract Sketching is often used as a tool during idea generation in the early stages of engineering design. At the same time, the rapid increase in remote engineering and design work paves the way for an increased reliance on digital design tools and technologies throughout the design process. Sketch quality and quantity have been shown to be linked to design perceptions and design outcomes. Additionally, sketch quality and style have been linked with the gender of the sketcher. Thus, there are financial, social, and ethical motivations for understanding how digital design tools influence sketching during early stages of engineering design. In this study, we investigate the influence of hand sketching on a tablet as compared to pencil or pen and paper on early stage sketching for concept generation. We also assess the influence of gender on sketching attributes. We ask three mixed gender groups of participants (using pen, pencil, and a tablet) to sketch concepts in response to an open-ended design prompt. We hypothesize that participants using tablet and pencil will produce fewer drawings than those using pen due to their ability to erase and focus on perfecting drawings, and we expect participants using the tablet to produce cleaner drawings with smoother strokes due to the tablet’s ability to auto-smooth lines. Based on prior literature, we posit that women and gender minorities will produce fewer sketches and use the feathering style of sketching more than men. We find that sketch quality is highest for pencil drawings and lower for tablet and pen drawings. We also find that concept novelty is negatively correlated with how understandable the concept is. Participants reported that experiences of drawing on paper and on the tablet differ in terms of missing the feeling of friction on the tablet and finding that too many features in a tool can be distracting during concept generation. Interestingly, participants from all groups mentioned that they were not good at sketching. Finally, we find several interesting results with respect to gender differences in sketching performance: namely, women and other gender minorities produced a higher quantity of sketches but did not have any difference in their sketch quality or style.