Hybrid Modeling Manual and digital media in the first steps of the design process

This paper proposes a new paradigm in computer-aided design: hybrid modeling. Considering, on one hand the traditional sketches and mock-ups, and digital techniques on the other, this paradigm fuses the two and proposes a new technique that uses the performance of the digital with the capacities of the analog without replacing or imitating one or the other. In the development of design computer solutions, it is important to know the user well. However, most researchers propose systems that do not consider how designers actually work. Furthermore, two principal elements must be considered in the design process: shape and space. These aspects need to be approached with convenient tools that are adapted to the designers. This new paradigm is presented through two new innovative techniques: the hybrid mock-up (for shape) and drafted virtual reality (for space). A review of the implications of this paradigm on the design process is presented. Not only are the techniques fast and easy to learn and execute, but the results demonstrate that the designers can express both their individuality and the idiosyncrasies of their personal representations; important elements that are diffi cult to achieve with conventional 3D modeling techniques, especially during the primary stages of the design process.