How to use Visual Thinking in UX design?
Sometimes, words are not enough to clearly and quickly explain or understand complex concepts. Our brains, designed to process images much faster than text, respond better to visual stimuli that allow us to grasp information at a glance. In fact, it is said that the human brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than text. This highlights the importance of integrating visual resources into fields like design and user experience research, where communicating ideas is one of the main tasks.
In this context, the Visual Thinking methodology emerged to simplify ideas and turn them into dynamic, easy-to-understand images. These visuals are quick to interpret and can be combined with other visual elements to make more precise design decisions. This visual approach is something we’ve all practiced since childhood, when drawing and creating shapes on paper were among our first ways of expressing ourselves.
Worried about not being able to draw? Don’t be! Everyone can create basic sketches that serve communication purposes. Plus, there are many intuitive tools and apps that simplify the process. In this post, we’ll explain how you can apply Visual Thinking to your UX projects and provide examples to inspire you to explore this methodology in your research and design practices.
What does visual thinking bring to UX?
Your first thought might be, “Drawing? I don’t have time for that.” But skipping this step could mean missing out on an incredible opportunity to transform your workflow. Here are some benefits Visual Thinking can bring to your UX design and research projects:
- Unlocks creativity: Quick sketches are all you need to activate new ideas.
- Encourages collaboration: Drawing together, even simple sketches, helps align teams.
- Clarifies concepts: Visual representations make ideas instantly understandable — especially useful in UX research to make findings more impactful and relatable.
- Improves memory retention: Visual note-taking enhances focus and helps retain information from events or sessions.
- Speeds up decision-making: Simple visuals are processed faster than written or spoken words.
- Adds energy and motivation: Visual Thinking introduces a dynamic element to work, making sessions less stressful and more creative.
Ways to use visual thinking in UX Design
Experts in this technique often identify three main approaches to applying Visual Thinking, all of which are adaptable to UX projects:
- Visual note-taking: Each participant captures ideas individually, creating visual notes that highlight key moments. This approach is ideal for organizing personal thoughts and expressing complex ideas through drawings that can later be used for inspiration or clearer communication.
- Graphic recording: In this approach, someone skilled in Visual Thinking creates a real-time visual summary during meetings, workshops, or presentations. This person draws the session’s key points, presenting them as a visual map of the topics discussed. The team can follow the meeting through these drawings, even without directly participating in their creation.
- Graphic facilitation: Similar to graphic recording but more interactive, this method involves a facilitator who works directly with the team. The facilitator creates illustrations on the spot, generating ideas and guiding brainstorming sessions with visuals that inspire solutions.
These approaches can be adapted to different goals and team dynamics. Choosing the best method depends on your project type and your team’s workflow.
Examples of visual thinking in UX
As UX designers, we often communicate visually. Visual Thinking fits naturally into different stages of product and service design, adding clarity and context at every step. Here are some examples:
Storyboards
Storyboards visually narrate how users interact with a product or service. They consist of a series of frames or images that illustrate specific moments of the user experience in a given context.
How to Use Them:
- Define a realistic scenario based on user research.
- Identify key moments in the user journey.
- Draw simple scenes to depict each step of the interaction.
- Add brief notes or text to clarify actions or emotions.
Tip: Don’t worry about artistic style — clarity and empathy matter more than perfection. Stick-figure drawings are perfectly fine! Tools like MURAL are great for sharing storyboards with your team.
Design sprints
During design sprints, Visual Thinking enables fast and effective collaboration through sketches and shared visual ideas.
How to Integrate It:
- Dedicate a session specifically for sketching ideas with the entire team.
- Use paper or whiteboards to quickly draft low-fidelity concepts.
- Iterate on visual ideas to find the most promising solution before moving to digital tools.
Tip: Set time limits for each sketch (e.g., 5 minutes) to stay focused and avoid overthinking.
Why visual thinking works
Visual Thinking has a unique quality — it transforms ideas into something dynamic and alive. It allows teams to see, adjust, and build concepts in real time. This visual language is universal, breaking down text barriers and connecting people on a more intuitive level.
If you’ve ever felt that words alone couldn’t capture the essence of a project, try adding sketches, diagrams, or visual maps. You might discover that drawing is the missing spark needed to turn complex ideas into inspiring, actionable insights.
This is a translation of the following article from our corporate website: