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Lifecycles of Diagrams and Sketches in Software Development

This is an ongoing project.


Description

Sketching and diagramming have long been established practices of professionals working in the field of design and architecture. Less is known however about the sketching and diagramming practices of computer scientists and software developers. In a series of interviews with researchers in the computer science department of a research university, we probed the context and tools in which they created sketches and diagrams, and the way these sketches and diagrams evolved over time. Through an analysis process grounded in an ethnographic approach, we created depictions of the sketching and diagrammatic lifecycles we observed, which can contribute to a better understanding of the role of sketching and diagramming in the field of computer science.

 

Images and Videos


A sample sketch lifecycle.