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TL;DR — creativity is a process of walking through a bunch of “no’s” before landing on a yes. Whenever we try to create something new, each failed attempt is a stepping stone forward towards success — and sketching is one of the ways we make those stepping stones.

Supposedly, Miles Davis once told a young drummer if he could play nonsense, stupid drums. The drummer did his best, Miles saying “right, right.. now can you play the opposite?”

They were looking for a drum beat to suit a new composition — The drummer was understandably offended and frustrated, because of the unreasonable request. But Miles Davis continued by saying “Look, I also don’t know what it is we’re looking for, but we will know it when we hit it”

Creativity is often like that. We don’t know what we’re looking for, but suddenly we hit something that just works, and we’ve created something that didn’t exist before, and that we didn’t know we were going to create. In fact, creativity is EXACTLY like that: at first, nothing. Then suddenly, something new! Like Genesis!

It’s like a long string of no’s … no that doesn’t work. No, no, no, no.. and then suddenly a “yes!” when we hit something that clicks into place and just works.

Related to UX sketching, what’s the relevance, you might ask. Well a major point of sketching in a design context is to explore options. I’ve written more about that here. Sketch out 10 options for an interface, or whatever it is you’re designing, and say “no” to all 10 of them. Or perhaps say “maybe” to a few, proceed to test them with users, and then say “yes”.

Maybe you actually can say the “yes” without having said the no’s — maybe you’re the type of person that can hear a suitable drumbeat for their inner ear and just nail it the first time around (I know a guy like that). Or maybe you can see a visual composition for your inner eye that just works. People are different, so maybe you’re like that! I’m not.

Personally, I always have to work through a bunch of nonstarters before landing on something that can work — sketching is my go-to tool for it since it’s so fast and effortless to sketch out ideas, it doesn’t take long to see all the “no’s” and arrive at a yes.

Thanks for reading!

Leave me a note in the comments if you found this useful or if you have something to add.. perhaps you’ve experienced this feeling of saying no a thousand times before finally saying yes?