Prototyping comes in many different forms and variations. According to InteractionDesign.org the simplest and most early form of prototyping is sketching. While one may think they need to be a good illustrator you actually don’t. In addition to sketches one can also create diagrams and mind maps. As long as you can sketch your ideas in a way that make sense to you and explain them to others that’s all you need. Sage Ross has stated that “You don’t need to be an artist to sketch for an effective outcome. The beauty of sketching is that you can get the idea down pretty much as soon as it hits you without worrying about it vanishing — even if you have to lean awkwardly to scribble something while standing up on a train, it’s a great start.” When I first began as a Freshman this was one of the aspects I worried about because I am not good at drawing. Another form of prototyping is storyboarding which can be used to visualize how a user may go about a certain problem. Doing so allows us to stay within the context of the problem. However, if looking to fine tune details of a product one should not use the storyboarding method because the drawing aren’t detailed enough.
Lego prototyping also allows the designer to get a rough idea of their design. It can also be altered fairly easily and taken apart. Role playing or experiential prototyping allows people to physically experience a particular scenario. This not only helps the design team get a better understanding of the situation but allows an empathetic approach. The benefits of this not only includes a more personalized experience but can help determine which goals the team needs to focus on the most. Prototyping is the culmination of several different processes which include the ideation process, the design thinking process, and the creative thinking process to just name a few.
UXPlanet.org has a list of Do’s and Don’ts. Some of them include using tools that are easy to learn and / or get as well as knowing and understanding what informations you want to have on each page. Personally, I can say that I not only followed this advice but thought it helped me determine which goals I should focus on first. Creating a prototype can be overwhelming, frustrating, and difficult. However, by having my goals identified and prioritized, I felt like things were more manageable.
For the mobile app redesign project I used wire-framing which first consisted of rough hand drawn “screens” so I could experiment with different layouts. After a series of the hand drawn wireframes I then moved onto creating them digitally which offered a more concrete idea of which design and layout i wanted to pursue. My final prototype was created using InVision and had a total of 33 different screens. Even though it certainly wasn’t perfect I was able to get a rough sense of how the app will work, what features it will have, and what it will look like.
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