The convenience and immediacy of pencil and paper

A pencil and an A3 pad are essential bits of kit to capture and develop thought.

The surface of the page allows pictures, words, diagrams, doodles, scribbles, tentative marks and bolder lines to express ideas.

Other tools can interfere with the flow. 'What should I say?' or 'how do I express?' blocks writing. 'Which program?' or 'how do I get it to?' have a similar effect when using a computer.

And while you can draw on a computer, pencil and paper are more nuanced.  They allow barely realised and even unconscious thoughts to come to the surface of the page.

Many aspects of life are intangible, making them hard to express using words. IT projects often fail because of fundamental misunderstandings between those commissioning, those executing and those using the end-result of the work.

An essential supplement to the communication of written specifications and the spoken exchange of ideas is: 'draw what you mean'.