Transforming Descriptions and Diagrams to Sketches in Information System Design

Sketching is integral to information systems design. Designers need to become fluent in translating verbal descriptions of systems to a variety of kinds of sketches, notably sequential and logical, and to translate among the kinds. Here, we investigated these cognitive skills in design students, asking them to design a system configuration starting from either a sequential diagram or a sequential description. Although the two source descriptions were logically equivalent, the diagram led to designs that corresponded more closely to the source description – that is, designs with fewer omissions of crucial components and links. Text descriptions led to more variable and less accurate designs, most likely because they require more cognitive steps from problem representation to problem solution.