01Design

Why I start on paper before the screen

Design tools tempt you to polish early. Paper forces you to think about structure because it allows nothing else.

Mohammed Al-BishariPublished 2026/07/301 min readPlaceholder

Preview: the essays here are placeholders until the real ones are published.

When I open a design tool on day one, I'm choosing a button colour within ten minutes. On paper there is no colour and no typeface, so only the important question remains: what does the user need here, and in what order?

Paper is cheap enough to tear up, which is exactly what makes it brave.

I sketch five quick versions of every important screen, then pick one and take it into the tool. Polish comes after the structure holds.