Week 9 - by Alice Low Soo Ying

What is a prototype? A prototype is:

• Paper- based outline of a screen / sets of screens

• Electronic 'picture'

• 3 dimensional paper / cardboard mockup

• Stack of hyperlinked screen shots

Allows stakeholders to:

• Interact with an envisiones product

• Gain experience in realistic setting

• Explore imagines uses

A prototype is a limited presentation that allows users to interacts and explore its usability.

• It is an helpful aid when discussing with stakeholders. 

• It also can be use as a communication device among team members.

• It is an effective way to test an idea

Example: clarify vague requirements, to do user testing and evaluation, check the design compability.

Low-fidelity Prototyping

• is one that does not look very much like the final product.

• Ex: uses materials that are very different from the intended final version such as paper, cardboard rather than electronic screen and metal.

• tend to be simple, cheap and quick to produce for support the exploration of alternative designs and ideas.

• important during conceptual design and are never intended to be kept and integrated into the final product. They are for exploration only.

Type of low-fidelity

• Storyboard
- consist of a series of sketches showing how a user might progress through a task using the product under development
• Sketches
- relies on sketching but often people find it difficult to engage in this activity
• Index cards
- use index cards (small pieces of the cardboard about 3x5 inches), each card represents 1 screen or one element of a task, in user evaluation, the user can step through the card
• Wizard of Oz

High-fidelity prototyping
• Uses materials expected to be in the final product and looks very much like the real thing
• Ex: prototype of a software system developed in Visual Basic vs paper based mock up
• It is useful for selling ideas and testing out technical issues

Problems with high-fidelity prototyping
• Take too long to build
• Reviewers and testers tend to comment on superficial aspects rather than content
• Developers are reluctant to change something they have crafted for hours
• A software prototype can set expectations to high
• Just one bug in a high-fidelity prototype can bring the testing to halt

Compromises in prototyping
• by their very nature, prototypes involve compromises: the intention is to produce something quickly to test an aspect of the product
• thus the prototype must be designed and built with the key issues in mind
• there are 2 common compromises:
- horizontal prototyping
- vertical prototyping

Conceptual Design
• it concerned with transforming needs and requirements into a conceptual model (an outline of what people can do with a product and what concepts are needed to understand how to interact it)
• key guiding principles :
- keep an open mind but never forget the users and their content
- discuss idea with stakeholders
- use low-fidelity prototyping to get rapid feedback

Developing an initial conceptual model
• some elements is a conceptual model with derived from the requirements for the product
• some consideration to create initial conceptual model
- which interface metaphor would be suitable to help users understand the product?
- which interaction type(s) would best support the user's activities?

Interface metaphors
• Combine familiar knowledge with new knowledge in a way that will help the user understand the system.
• Choosing suitable metaphors and combining new and familiar concepts requires a careful balance between utility and fun and based on a sound understanding of the users and their context.
• 3 step in choosing good interface metaphors:
- Understand what the system will do
- Understand which bits of the system are likely to cause users problem
- Generate metaphors

Interaction Types
• Different interface types prompt and support different perspectives on the product under development and suggest different possible behaviours.
• WIMP/GUI interface
• sharable interface
• tangible interface
• advance graphical interface