UI/UX prototyping #

What is a prototype #

We have a new term here: prototype. What is it exactly?

According to Wikipedia: A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process.

Prototypes are made both for physical and digital products. Testing helps us discover design flaws and misunderstandings. And the earlier we test, the earlier we can find basic errors.

There's even more great wisdom in this Youtube playlist

LO-FI prototypes #

The early-stage prototypes, where basic ideas, concepts and principles of a product is described, are called LO-Fi prototypes. They represent the ideas, not always the exact look.

Here we can see an actual LO-FI testing in progress:

Marvel PoP #

Prototyping software Marvel has an mobile app Marvel POP, that lets us turn paper sketches into clickable prototypes.

Hi-Fi prototypes #

Sometimes LO-FI prototypes are enough to prove a concept, but most of the time you need more advanced and polished prototypes. These are called the HI-FI prototypes.

Read more: 7 ninjas: Low Fidelity vs High Fidelity Prototypes

While LO-FI may be done with pen and paper, HI-FI requires use of a special prototyping software. This is what our next topic is about.