Shape Up

Shape Up fat-marker sketches

Fat-marker sketches communicate structure and intent with deliberately broad strokes. Their roughness keeps the discussion on the solution’s shape rather than visual polish.

Sketch the big idea

Use boxes, labels, and simple arrows to show the main surfaces and relationships. The constraint prevents premature debate over typography, spacing, or pixels.

Pair sketches with decisions

A sketch should answer a product question: where does the user start, what do they see, and what action changes the state?

Leave room for builders

The sketch gives a team a direction, not a frozen interface. Combine it with scope boundaries and a hill chart so progress remains about understanding, not mockup completion.