A design-thinking process is the red thread that leads you through a maze of ideas and decisions. One of the creative tools we use at Ludic in our design led approach is visual scribing. Its ability to synthesise, spark new ideas and create an equal space is invaluable when we are co-authoring, prototyping, building vision boards and finding the steps to move forward.

We've also been sharing this tool with our clients for over 15 years. It's been used from strategy workshops to product design, and from intimate dinner and debate evenings through to the world stages of international conferences.

The art and science of visual scribing

Visual scribing (also known as graphic recording) is playful, directional, collaborative and inclusive. It takes the heaviness out of ideation by encouraging us to play with a 'what if' and 'yes and' approach. Indeed, we think visualisation is good for you because:

Team decision-making is proven to be more powerful.

It creates a common language in diverse groups.

It stimulates feedback and further ideas.

It's fun and easily shared.

We caught up with the visual scribe team to uncover the 3 most powerful ways that visual scribing can be used to enable an ideation process.

Empathise: You've developed a deep understanding of the challenge. You have a sea of research notes to prove this. Some notes don't appear to be categorised, or have miscellaneous written at the top… where to begin? At this stage, a visual artist can work alongside you to create a knowledge map that synthesises your research notes in a visual way. This means that you and others can step into the world of your research and start to define and build the idea together.

Ideate: All those ideas. Which one is going to make it? Visual scribing captures the discussion so you can quickly spot where the traction is and any bridging points between ideas. It makes space for new ideas to pop up because the visual layout encourages non-linear thinking and creates a feedback loop in the room.

Prototype: Need to know what a product, service or idea might look like? A visual scribe works alongside the team to draws up concepts for sharing with stakeholders. Or, it can rapidly test scenarios with narrative frameworks like 'A day in the life'.

Visual scribing anywhere in the world

Over the last five years, the visual scribe team has been pushing the boundaries of scribing to meet the demands of its clients and artists.For example, digital and remote scribing were developed as a solution so we could support our global clients and reduce the impact on the environment. Today, we can produce the same result without the air miles. With a global network of scribes, the team offers visual scribing in both online and offline formats across the world. So wherever you are in the world, they have a solution to support you.