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Prototyping

Methodology

In Brief

  • You should prototype a product early in its development because it is much easier and cheaper to correct a prototype than a released product.
  • Low-fidelity prototypes are quick, cheap, and designed to elicit user feedback as early as possible They are especially valuable for libraries, since they do not require the involvement of resources outside the library, such as system administrators, programmers, or graphic designers.
  • High-fidelity prototypes are more expensive and usually involve coding, but are better for evaluating graphics and getting 'buy-in' that usability problems found during testing are not due to the 'rough' quality of the prototype.

Discussion

Prototyping is much like a rough draft of a document. It still needs to be polished, but allows you to begin solidifying ideas, correcting major errors, and even start over without a lot of lost time. There are low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes.

Low-fidelity prototypes

  • A low-fidelity prototype is a 'quick and dirty' mockup that is cheap, easily changed, and can be thrown away without complaint.
  • During usability tests, a low-fidelity prototype often uses a person as the computer and a pointer as the mouse.
  • The goal of such a prototype is to create something as quickly as possible that will elicit user feedback.
  • Very often, paper and pencil are used to construct this type of prototype, though presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint) may be used.

As an early-design tool, a paper low-fidelity prototype is ideal. Many ideas can be viewed and evaluated by the design team in a short period of time, and with very little cost. The basic idea is to have the design team work together, using little more than pen-and-paper, to draw the screens needed for a basic user interface to the product. Because it is done early, quickly, and with no expectation of creating a working version, the team is under much less pressure and generally works together more smoothly. In addition, little to no attachment for the prototype develops in the team, resulting in much less resistance to change (example).

A paper prototype can also be used for a usability test (example). The major difference with regular usability testing is that a person acts as the computer, changing screens, vocalizing error messages, etc.

For more information on how we use paper prototyping at OCLC, see the How we do it: paper prototyping.

High-fidelity prototypes

  • Libraries may want to use a high-fidelity prototype if they require greater 'buy-in' that the usability problems they find are valid and need to be corrected
  • A high-fidelity prototype is much closer to the actual product in look and feel
  • The prototype often requires use of a programming language
  • The user interacts with a computer, not a person acting as a computer.

By far, the OCLC usability lab evaluates more high-fidelity prototypes than any other product format. A major reason for this is that project teams tend to view the results of a usability test with a high-fidelity prototype as more accurate than tests with a low-fidelity prototype.

High-fidelity prototypes are often written using HTML, Javascript, or OCLC's SiteSearch. It is common for the prototype to be written in the same language as the final product, but without the complete functionality or 'clean' code of a final product. This makes the transition from prototype to product quicker and easier. It also increases the risk that the prototype's 'cludge' code will inadvertently be used in the final product.