This paper describes the vital role of freehand sketching in the design process. When designers first tackle a design problem they usually do so by sketching. We will explore the essential elements of sketching that make it so helpful to problem solving. We then examine how current computer interfaces interfere with the sketching process, and go on to establish the requirements for an environment to support sketching. Finally we describe a system under development to integrate sketching into a visual programming environment (Visual Basic).