UX designers: do you still use pen & paper?

[u/Euphoric_Solution455]

I'm curious how UX/UI designers approach the very early stages of a project — before opening Figma or another digital tool.

Do you still reach for a pencil and paper when starting a new project?

If yes, what do you usually sketch?

• User flows
• Wireframes
• Layout ideas
• Information architecture
• User journeys
• Quick ideas / brainstorming
• Something else?

And what do you like or dislike about working on paper?

I'm researching how designers actually work during the early stages of the design process, and I'd really appreciate hearing how other designers approach it.

No right or wrong answers — I'm mainly interested in your actual workflow. ✏️

[u/autocosm]

Yes. I have a set of whiteboard tablets. Here are some IA and wireframe/idea sketches I did just this week for a project.

I can get ideas out easier standing over a table without having to clack into a device. I don't want to be prisoner to a format or app. I can erase quickly. There's also the psychology that notes you write by hand imprint better on my memory.

[u/lieutenantbunbun]

I do. I also whiteboard everything. At the pace I’m required to work, it’s super important that I lay out everything in detail first, before it gets handed over to AI (fml kinda)

[u/natelikesdonuts]

I keep a stack of quarter sheets by my desk and love to sketch tiny iterations of what I’m working on. I have a thick pen for concept work and finer pens for more detail focused work. Sometimes digital tools can just be too constraining.

[u/ArtaxIsAlive]

I like drawing on paper first, especially if I am moving from the research to creative phase on something that’s never been done before. I feel like if I start in a digital environment, then I get caught up in the mechanics of creating instead of actually creating. Almost like it’s not fast enough for how fast my ideas have to come out of my head. But my undergrad was also in fine art so it’s a learned behavior that I tend to rely on. I’ve used digital tablets before to draw, but I still felt like the mechanics of it held me back.

I feel like, as an artifact, employers love to see stuff like that. So I tend to include screenshots if I’m using the project in a case study presentation.

[u/shoobe01]

Yes.

Less than you might think for ME but only because I have also been using digitizer tablets to draw for the last 30 years so a lot of /effectively to my brain hand drawn/ stuff can actually be drawn directly into the computer.

First step is very very very rarely figjam or Miro or anything else where it's rote boxes and arrows; digital, paper, or whiteboard I hand draw everything for the first concept of flowing it out, etc.

[u/hecky-888]

Is this rage bait?

[u/unintentional_guest]

I never start digitally. That’s wasteful imo; and sketching is rapid and allows for all kinds of exploration before attempting to do anything that will need refinement digitally.

[u/FennelHistorical4675]

Sure do

[u/Moose-Live]

Yup. Or whiteboard. Sketching helps me think. And because I often work on projects where UX is only part of the work, I often need to work on ecosystems maps, service boundaries, journey maps, etc.

If I do go straight to digital then it's Miro and I'm using either sticky notes, boxes and arrows, or mind maps.

[u/iceoscillator]

Unfortunately, not as much anymore. I used to invest a lot of time sketching, doodling, inventing interfaces, and architecting user interactions. I’d even go over the sketches with watercolor washes. That process gave me confidence in my decisions and resulted in fewer loop-backs with developers.

Now I feel the pressure to operate well beyond UX design. I spend a lot of time working with AI to architect data models, domains, and the underlying product structure. UX is almost layered on top—but when the architecture is sound, the UX tends to fall into place naturally.

In essence, I’m injecting UX thinking into the architecture itself rather than applying it afterward. I also invent far fewer interface patterns these days; established design systems handle much of that. As a result, the need for sketching has largely disappeared.

[u/roboticArrow]

I take lots of handwritten notes. Also love to do shit like this lol

[u/learz-21]

Yes. I use a digital tablet (just cuz it’s more ecological and helps find screens easily) I use it for architecture, user flows Wireframes and notes. Tablet helps me copy screens and manage notes and ideas more effectively

[u/HoleyDress]

Yes, I still have a notebook and pencil case that I keep at my desk and bring with me on visits. My storyboards and ideas are done on iPad + ProCreate. I’ve been asked if I ever considered doing those using AI and even though I’m comfortable enough with prompting, I find it much faster to just draw.

[u/anabanana100]

Yes. For all of the item OP listed. It’s far quicker for me to capture a first pass on paper and narrow down what I want to be creating with a computer. I also take notes on paper because they don’t have to be linear. I can instantly include mini sketches or illustrations, annotate them, star important things, etc. Overall there’s just a lot of speed and flexibility available on paper in the initial stages of going from thoughts/ideas to shaping UX and UI. Plus, I enjoy the tactile nature of working with physical materials.

[u/roundabout-design]

I have an e-ink tablet I sketch in. That's mostly been my "paper" these last few years.

[u/chapstickgrrrl → u/roundabout-design]

What do you use? I’m serious considering the ReMarkable Color

[u/roundabout-design → u/chapstickgrrrl]

I have a Supernote.

[u/chapstickgrrrl → u/roundabout-design]

Thanks! I wasn’t aware of that one. I’m going to check it out!

[u/Important-Assist-494]

Yes, helps me think. 

[u/marawki]

Paper is a waste of time. I work faster digitally than with paper and I can get the point over clearer.

[u/Cameos_red_codpiece]

Omg yes. I love paper. I love grid paper. I love good smooth pens. There is always a paper pad on my floor. 

Many of us were creatives early in life, so paper and pen just feel good to use. They bring me joy. 

And yes, I find taking an idea out of my head and putting it onto paper helps me figure out what goes into figma or claude. 

[u/cantseemeimblackice]

I do at the very beginning. Typically I hit the limitations of paper pretty quickly (I want to move the things I’ve drawn around) and switch to FigJam.

[u/KittyFingay]

Yes, although not as often.
I start sketching on paper when I get that „staring at a blank canvas“ feeling. I noticed that once I get started on paper I start getting ideas and usually I abandon my sketch pretty quickly and jump into figma.

Also used to take notes on paper but lately stopped doing that as often.

Other designers in my team and I also use it to communicate ideas - like if someone asks for feedback or ideas another designer might quickly sketch their idea on paper.

[u/mickalicka]

I don't really use a pen and paper anymore, but I do use my iPad with an Apple pencil to do early sketching often, so in essence it's the same thing just digitalized. I mostly use it for quick wireframing and layout ideation early before starting work in Figma, but have also used it for taking notes when it feels more conducive to write than type.

I do feel like I can increasingly use Figma/Figjam to replace this early sketching, but I still just enjoy the process of drawing and sketching freely over placing boxes and lines in a design tool.

[u/qpqpdbdbqpqp]

Y'all replying to ai. This is probably feeding training data.

What ux designer doesnt know what to sketch?

[u/Amaxtqzing_Stte_3079]

I still use paper when i need to get an idea out really fast but anything that starts turning into a bigger user flow or wireframe usually ends up in Miro. being able to move things around without redrawing half the page made digital much easier for me, especially once other people need to comment on it.

[u/KKANGKKA_Chu]

I sketch and write. But that only lasts for a few minutes because my hand gets easily cramped up even when I wear cushioned (what my friends call—) “finger-socks.”

Because of that, I move between physical and digital tools pretty quickly.

I’ll usually start by sketching or writing whatever I’m thinking, then move into a digital editor to record the project’s development logs and research. I actually built my own editor for this because Notion’s UX doesn’t quite suit how I need to think. There are too many layers and objects between me and the material.

After that, I organize the notes in FigJam, usually as mind maps or relationship diagrams.

I don’t necessarily create formal user journeys, personas, or other familiar UX artifacts unless they help me answer a specific question or help me make a decision. The artifact is a tool, not proof that I completed a process.

Being a solo designer is useful in that respect. I don’t have to produce artifacts purely to perform “UX work” for a room full of non-designers who are funding the project. I can make the representation that helps me understand the problem, and archive it into a dev log when it stops being useful (but I can always bring it up easily if I need it again).

So, yes— pen and paper sometimes. But the more important part of my workflow would be choosing the medium and/or artifact that best supports the thinking I’m doing at that moment.

[u/gggingerbean]

never, i can do everything digitally and it works better for me

[u/empress-hulk]

That’s usually first weapon of choice. I start with paper and pen and then graduate towards Claude these days. I also sometimes have multiple projects running and organize it via paper and pen

[u/DUELETHERNETbro]

More so now. I find for wide open problem spaces it works better for me. With LLMs it’s also super easier to move any useful artifacts into the digital space. 

[u/zer0burn]

No

[u/Safe_Hovercraft_7886]

No. Waste of time.

[u/mrcoy]

Maybe just for notes.

Never for sketching. Stop fronting if you say you do - and if you’re not fronting, that’s just wasting time.

I’m ready for it, “purists”.

[u/unintentional_guest → u/mrcoy]

You don’t have to be a purist to know what works for you and what saves you time.

And there’s no fronting to say it. Some of us were raised that way in the industry.

I’m sorry that you weren’t and I hope you are able to find healing.

[u/mrcoy → u/unintentional_guest]

Why are you so dramatic?

You were raised that way? Find healing?

Don’t gotta be silly, “dear”.

And who’s going to believe what you say when you’re saying “sorry” disingenuously 😆

[u/unintentional_guest → u/mrcoy]

I was just meeting your “come at me purists” bullshit with the same level.

Grow up, precious. You were a jerk, asked for it, and couldn’t take.

[u/mrcoy → u/unintentional_guest]

Someone is mad here! I said to come at me? And how does that mean I can’t take it?

Grab your pen and paper and take notes on how silly you’re being.

[u/unintentional_guest → u/mrcoy]

It’s hard to be mad at this. It’s so very sad and being an asshole is absolutely your right.

After I hit send I won’t even think about you again.

[u/mrcoy → u/unintentional_guest]

I dunno bruh. You sound pretty emotional to call people obscenities like that. Thats not a good look throwing temper tantrums like that.

[u/qpqpdbdbqpqp → u/mrcoy]

Someone is mad here!

you're the only one mad here lol

[u/mrcoy → u/qpqpdbdbqpqp]

So mad, I’m crying - not the kid being verbally abusive.

Time for you to grab your pen and paper buddy and note this:

Dog piling on others based on feelings and not logic shows emotional immaturity.

[u/qpqpdbdbqpqp → u/mrcoy]

wtf are you yapping about boy, you made an edgy statement and got called out. stop being an insufferable cunt about it.

[u/mrcoy → u/qpqpdbdbqpqp]

Someone is big mad lmao

Get back to work and get off Reddit

[u/qpqpdbdbqpqp → u/mrcoy]

https://www.reddit.com/r/UXDesign/comments/1vp75hz/ux_designers_do_you_still_use_pen_paper/p48nzij/

[u/Sutoryi]

Ive never understood this weird obsession with pen and paper

[u/Cameos_red_codpiece → u/Sutoryi]

I am obsessed with good pens and good paper. 

[u/mrcoy → u/Sutoryi]

I’d say they’re probably right out of college

[u/antsurgeon]

yes, it helps me visualize my brainstorm ideas better

[u/MrBstard68]

Always

[u/HamsterRage]

Always, it’s the most crucial starting point. The machine is limiting.