Sketching in public places: Alix Ducros, Aurélien Tabard and Clemens Klokmose present an article in the Interactive Surfaces and Spaces 2019 Congress in South Korea

Alix Ducros and Aurélien Tabard, researchers from the #LyonTeam, and Clemens Klokmose, from the #Aarhus team, have published an article about Ébauche, a platform whose function is helping researchers and designers to sketch social and cultural practices of a particular place. This article will be presented in the Interactive Surfaces and Spaces 2019 Congress in the city of Daejeon, in South Korea.

The article highlights the process of situated sketching in dynamic public spaces such as libraries, train stations or commercial areas where human activities are taking place. These public spaces have distinct features because they are often open-ended, multi-faceted, and difficult to anticipate.

Ébauche came to resolve this equation. It enables designers to collaboratively sketch interfaces, distribute them across multiple displays and enact use cases. Some examples are presented: six situated sketching and enactment workshops on public displays with the platform, and a controlled study with 8 pairs of designers who used paper and Ébauche. The article describes how participants leveraged the place, and how paper or Ébauche influenced the integration of their designs in the place.

Interesting outcomes could be obtained from these cases. They mainly suggest that paper leads to broader exploration of ideas and deeper physical integration in the environment, whereas Ébauche leads to more refined sketches and more animated enactments.

A video presentation of the platform