Every once in a while a simple little innovation comes along that is just so useful you wonder how you every lived without it. Draft dots—little round circles of drafting tape, neatly dispensed from a convenient box—are now a can’t-live-without collaboration tool, as critical as sharpies and stickies.
Draft dots are intended for use in drafting applications to hold sheets of drawing paper. Dots have enough adhesion to firmly hold the paper in place but, unlike scotch tape, can be removed without damaging the paper. This removability makes them perfect for temporary, no-damage wall displays or, my favorite, using them in brainstorming sessions to fill the walls with people’s ideas.
You can buy draft dots at many art supply stores like Flax, Pearl Paint or Dick Blick. They are typically located in the drafting supplies area, along with templates, compasses, and grid paper. You can also order dots online.
1. Make Ideas Visible
During brainstorming sessions, it’s critical that you work visually and in quantity. Getting ideas off the table and up on the wall can inspire the team and give the team a sense of momentum and accomplishment.
2. Turn Any Wall Into a Work Space
With draft dots, you can make any wall a workspace. I’ve facilitated collaborative work sessions in shiny conference rooms with no whiteboards, tacking ideas and artifacts to windows, tables, and closet doors.
3. Build Layered Paper Prototypes
Take one of those draft dots, fold it into a little tube adhesive side out and you can make removable layers of paper. This can be great for quickly communicating state changes.
4. Display Artifacts from a Work Session
After a work session, it can be good citizenship (and great for the acceptance of your work) to make your progress visible. Be a rogue and use draft dots to temporarily attach your ideas, models, concepts, or interface designs to a visible wall in a highly trafficked area.
5. Make Larger Work Surfaces
Play Macgyver with your office supplies. If you need a large work space for drawing, attach several pieces of 8 ½ x 11 together.
