The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

Roam's book is a practical method for visual thinking — a small set of basic shapes (people, places, things, amounts, timelines, how things work, why) that let you diagram almost any business problem on a napkin. The method is simple enough that people who believe they cannot draw can use it. For product direction the value is the habit it creates: forcing ideas into a picture exposes the places where the idea is under-specified, and the exercise of drawing is often more useful than the drawing itself. Pair with Rohde's Sketchnote Handbook for the note-taking complement. A useful, slightly overlong book; the first third is the essential part.