i-sketch and we-sketch

A sketch is a sketch is a sketch. Or is it? There may be an assumption that all idea sketches are for sharing with others. Not necessarily so. There are reasons why a designer may prefer to keep their sketches private, and reasons why they show and share their sketches with colleagues or clients, and whether face-to-face or online, including, for example, drawing on a whiteboard in an ideation session. In the first instance, we may call the activity i-sketch, and in the second, we-sketch. Such distinction may have implications for education too in that students should feel free to decide what sketches should be displayed and shared with others, and which should remain a private record of ideas. But whatever category, freehand sketching is a powerful means of ideation that improves with practice.