Sketches still play a meaningful role in the early stages of a project

Question

With all the advanced design tools available today that allow rapid prototyping, auto-layouts, and real-time collaboration, do UX sketches still play a meaningful role in the early stages of a project? I’m curious how people balance low-fidelity sketching with jumping straight into digital tools, especially when working in teams where speed and clarity matter. Do sketches genuinely help uncover problems earlier, or do they sometimes slow things down compared to modern workflows?

CornSeahorse4031 · Answer

Someone asked whether UX sketches are still useful with modern tools. From my experience, they absolutely are. UX sketches allow fast experimentation and team alignment without technical friction. I often reference ideas similar to  when onboarding juniors, because it explains why sketching isn’t about art but thinking. It creates space for mistakes early, which is much cheaper than fixing problems after development starts.