The Back of the Napkin

Name: The Back of the Napkin
ISBN: 1591843065

by Dan Roam · first published 2008

8mentions

6recommended by

8HN commenters

2009–2021first – last mentioned

75% recommend25% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Teaches basic sketching as a way to clarify your own thinking and present ideas visually, especially for business and whiteboard use; suits non-designers who need to communicate with pictures.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Business & Management Data & Statistics Startups & Entrepreneurship

A bold new way to tackle tough business problems—even if you draw like a second graderWhen Herb Kelleher was brainstorming about how to beat the traditional hub-and-spoke airlines, he grabbed a bar napkin and a pen. Three dots to represent Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Three arrows to show direct flights. Problem solved, and the picture made it easy to sell Southwest Airlines to investors and customers.Used properly, a simple drawing on a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or PowerPoint. It can help crystallize ideas, think outside the box, and communicate in a way that people simpl

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View on Open Library ISBN 1591843065

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What Hacker News says

btilly · Jan 22, 2011 · Recommends

…slides, use them at your own risk – because we’ve seen them before! Incidentally a great book to teach people how to create useful pictures (both for clarifying your thinking and for presenting) is The Back of the Napkin. Be warned that it it helps you communicate your message effectively, but it does nothing to help your message be more believable. The book contains an ironic example of this, by telling the story of…
on “"There's a Slide For That" - Generic Slides to Avoid in your Pitch” ↗
brudgers · Oct 28, 2011 · Recommends

A good book on sketching and it's application as a business communication tool is Dan Roam's The Back of the Napkin. http://www.amazon.com/Back-Napkin-Expanded-Problems-Pictures...
on “Why I take sketch breaks instead of surfing the Internet” ↗
mattcrest · Sep 27, 2012 · Recommends

It's not online, but I've been told "The Back of the Napkin: : Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures" is a good book for that kind of thing. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591843065/
on “Program above and beyond your actual ability by using FreeMind” ↗
tanseydavid · Mar 5, 2021 · Recommends

For some really great insights into drawing for business (esp. whiteboarding) see: The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam. There are other related books by the same author too. I especially enjoyed: Draw to Win
on “Ask HN: How do I learn drawing?” ↗
alabut · Aug 9, 2009 · Recommends

The best tip I can give non-designers or non-artists is to read Dan Roam's Back Of The Napkin. It's about how to use basic sketching skills to both capture and express your ideas. We're holding a discussion on it on Sept 10th at our next UX Book Club, for those in the bay area: http://groups.google.com/group/ux-book-club-san-francisco/br...
on “Sketchbooks aren't about being a good artist, they're about being a good thinker” ↗
ryanlchan · Jul 11, 2011 · Recommends

…in this day of ubiquitous slides. As an additional benefit, I find that I have to put a lot more thought into what actually needs to get communicated when I have to physically write it out. Dan Roam's Back of the Napkin is a great book explaining how to communicate using a pen[1]. [1] http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/
on “How to make awesome diagrams for your slides” ↗
reddiar · Sep 1, 2009 · Mentions

Network Algorithmics - George Varghese; Back of the Napkin - Dan Roam
on “What are you reading?” ↗
selleck · Oct 2, 2014 · Mentions

…Joy - William B. Irvine Algorithm Design Manual - Steven S Skiena Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work - Dan Roam Highly recommend the first 2, Blah Blah Blah is a rehash with a twist on Back of the Napkin.
on “Ask HN: What is HN reading?” ↗