Why Should Prototyping Be an Important Part of Design Process for Your Startup?
Prototype is the must have word for product startups. Prototyping has been around since ages, much before the invention of language. It's all about using visuals to describe how a system should behave and look. The meaning remained the same even in the design and development. Now Adobe has also released Experience Designer tool, paving the way for more startups to try out their hands in prototyping. But there are many, who are still not aware of the importance of prototyping yet.
What's a Prototype?
Prototyping is an iterative approach to user interface design, creating mock-ups about the functionality of a system be it a product, website or a mobile app to validate with the stakeholders, developers, designers and a horde of users as well. It helps in gathering the valuable feedback, improving the final design and reducing the need for changes during development.
The purpose of prototyping is to help you make a better functional product. It’s your chance to show the world that the concept will work as it should be. It's also a way to show your client or potential investors how the product is supposed to work through visuals instead of words, ensuring better understanding and reducing the risk of missing anything.
When do you need a prototype?
You need a prototype when you need to show how something should work. The type of prototype generally depends on the specific stage of your project and also on what you feel is right for you, your client and your project.
Whiteboards and sketches are the place where it all starts. Then depending on the complexity of the system, you should move towards the medium or high fidelity prototypes. Several tools and techniques can be used to build prototypes, InVision, Framer, and Zeplin are a few of our favorites at INKONIQ, we also use the good old Flash and After Effects.
Wireframes and Prototypes, when to pick what?
Problem with wireframes and mock-ups are that they are static, the information is not enough to showcase the functionality of the product.
Prototypes on the other way are usually interactive and convey the information about product's functionality in a better way.
Wireframes and mock-ups are the stepping stones used for building prototypes.
Various faces of prototypes
Conceptual prototypes
The interface layouts are not important in conceptual prototypes. They deal only with the interactions and processes and are used at the earliest stage of any project. Conceptual prototypes can be a flow chart, post-it notes, a PowerPoint presentation or a video explaining the process with icon based illustrations.
Low fidelity prototypes
When you start taking the help of tangible things like layout, screen size etc. to iterate your ideas, you are dealing with low fidelity prototypes. You need this prototype during the early stages of design cycle. It includes basic prototyping functions and therefore no special tools or experience required, a pen and paper work well here. During brainstorming and conceptualizing an idea, paper prototyping takes place, which usually have low visual and content fidelity.
Medium fidelity prototypes
Sometimes a low fidelity prototype is not enough to bring clarity. High fidelity prototypes are used in the mid-phase of design and are made using the prototyping tools such as Visio, relying heavily on the simulated interaction. Wireframes, scenarios, and task flows are created with tools to introduce the visual elements, colors and style, focusing on demonstrating the behavior of the application. You get a clear idea on whether the user needs are met or not. We love Balsamiq for building Medium fidelity prototypes, even Sketch also turning out to be a good alternative.
High fidelity prototypes
Very close to the real product and are sometimes mistaken for the final product. They are not the PSDs, but have a higher level of interactivity and fidelity. You can either use static HTML or CSS to build the interactive visuals with the help of a designer and developer like old times or you can use drag and drop simulators to import images and add pseudo interactive features to imitate the final functionality of the product. They are extremely useful for conducting usability testing and training.
Prototyping, a blessing for User Research
It's very important for a startup to be able to showcase manufacturers and investors on what their final product will look like. Therefore, prototyping and user research are incomplete without each other. You can wait to showcase your final product to the potential users or you can opt for a visual-rich and highly functional prototype to get valuable insights on the obstacles and misunderstandings users' face while using your product.
Prototyping breathes life into all forms of designs and makes the process of delivering a good user experience smoother, faster and easier for startups. It throws light on how a user will interact with the product at various levels and makes iterations more productive, leading to innovations and unexpected discoveries.
Integrating prototyping into the design process can help you understand problems faced by users in completing a task, their biases and will result in a meaningful and useful end product.
