🎨 Prototypes

✏️ Definition

Prototypes are preliminary versions of a product or feature designed to explore ideas, test concepts, and gather feedback before final development. They range from low-fidelity sketches or wireframes to high-fidelity interactive designs and help teams validate functionality, usability, and design decisions. Prototypes serve as a bridge between abstract ideas and tangible solutions, enabling iterative improvements throughout the product development process.

Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Simple, rough designs like sketches or wireframes focused on structure and flow rather than visuals or interactivity. Ideal for early concept validation.

Medium-Fidelity Prototypes: More polished versions, adding basic visuals and some interactivity to test usability and gather user feedback.

High-Fidelity Prototypes: Detailed, interactive models that closely resemble the final product, used to refine designs and test advanced functionality.

+ Benefits

Early validation

Prototypes enable teams to test ideas and concepts early in the product development process. By identifying potential issues or confirming assumptions before full-scale development, they help reduce the risk of costly mistakes and ensure the final product better meets user needs.

Improved communication

A prototype serves as a visual and interactive representation of an idea, making it easier to communicate and align with stakeholders, team members, and users. This shared understanding fosters collaboration and helps bridge gaps between technical and non-technical audiences.

Iterative improvement

Prototypes allow teams to experiment, gather feedback, and iterate quickly. By testing and refining designs in incremental steps, teams can make informed decisions that lead to more user-friendly, functional, and polished end products.

📒 Playbook

⏮️ Prepare

Define objectives: Clearly outline the purpose of the prototype. Determine what you want to achieve, such as validating a concept, testing usability, or exploring design interactions.

Identify key scenarios: Map out the use cases, user flows, and functionality you aim to test. Focus on key interactions and critical paths that need to be represented in the prototype.

Choose fidelity and tools: Decide on the fidelity level (low, medium, or high) based on your objectives and audience. Select the appropriate tools to build the prototype, such as Figma, Axure, or InVision.

Sketch or draft: Begin with a rough outline or storyboard to visualize the concept. This serves as a blueprint for creating the interactive prototype.

▶️ Run

Test with users: Select the appropriate fidelity level for testing based on your project phase and goals. Use low-fidelity prototypes to evaluate basic functionality, navigation, and overall concept viability. For high-fidelity prototypes, focus on detailed user interactions, visual design, and content accuracy to refine the user experience.

Facilitate testing sessions: Conduct usability tests by assigning users specific tasks to complete using the prototype. Observe their interactions, ask clarifying questions, and gather verbal feedback about their experience, focusing on areas where they encounter difficulties or confusion.

Gather insights: Document key observations and feedback from the testing sessions. Focus on identifying patterns, areas for improvement, and features that worked well to inform the next iteration of your prototype.

⏭️ After

Document the prototype: Organize and document the final prototype, including annotations, test findings, and key observations (e.g., areas where users struggled, features they found intuitive, or moments that excited them). Ensure the documentation is accessible to the team and stakeholders for future reference.

Validate with stakeholders: Present the prototype and testing insights to your team and relevant stakeholders. Highlight key findings, improvements made, and areas that need further exploration. Address any concerns or feedback to align everyone on the next steps.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Over-engineering too early

Spending too much time perfecting a high-fidelity prototype before validating basic concepts can lead to wasted effort if the core idea or functionality needs significant changes. Start with low-fidelity prototypes to test assumptions early and refine incrementally.

Neglecting user feedback

Skipping or downplaying usability testing can result in prototypes that don’t address real user needs. Relying solely on assumptions or internal opinions may lead to misaligned designs and missed opportunities for improvement.

Treating prototypes as final designs

Prototypes are meant for exploration and testing, not as finished products. Over-polishing or mistaking them for deliverables can hinder iterative feedback and innovation. Keep the focus on learning and adapting.

👉 Example

⏮️ Prepare

Objective

The objective is to understand the challenges, expectations, and preferences of guests during the check-in process to a short-term rental accommodation. We want to identify opportunities to streamline the check-in experience, enhance guest satisfaction, and reduce any friction points encountered through the Property-Marketplace app.

Participants

First-time guests: Users who are new to the platform, experiencing their first stay. First-time users are more likely to encounter difficulties due to unfamiliarity with the app and the overall process. Observing them provides insights into onboarding effectiveness and the clarity of instructions provided within the app.

Methodology

Shadowing: We will accompany guests (with their permission) as they go through the check-in process at different properties and observe their interactions with the app, any communication with the host, and their physical entry into the property.

In-depth interviews: We will conduct interviews with guests immediately following their check-in to capture their fresh impressions, frustrations, and suggestions. We will focus on understanding their expectations versus reality and any difficulties they encountered.

Focus areas

App interaction: Assess how effectively the app communicates check-in instructions, provides necessary information (e.g., Wi-Fi codes, parking instructions), and facilitates communication with the host.

Physical access: Explore various methods of physical entry (e.g., key lockboxes, digital locks, host handover) and identify any common issues or guest preferences.

Emotional response: Gauge guests’ emotional responses throughout the check-in process, including any anxiety, frustration, or relief, to understand the impact of the check-in experience on their overall perception of their stay.

▶️ Conduct

Observations

User journey: We observed users from the moment they received their booking confirmation until they were settled in their accommodations. This included interactions with the app, communication with hosts, and navigating to the property.

Interactions logged: We logged each interaction, such as when a user opened the app to check the address, contacted the host for additional instructions, or struggled with the lockbox code. Special attention was paid to moments where users hesitated or expressed frustration.

⏭️ After

Insights

Insight #1 Many users struggled with finding the exact location of the property, especially in areas with poor cell service or confusing street layouts.

Insight #2 Some users felt uncertain about whom to contact when they faced issues, leading to delays in getting assistance.

Insight #3 Several users had trouble with key collection, particularly when using lockboxes with unclear instructions.

Insight #4 First-time users expressed high levels of anxiety around check-in, fearing something might go wrong.

Disclaimer: This is a hypothetical example created to illustrate how User Shadowing can be applied to the check-in process for an Airbnb-like app. The scenario and participants are fictional and for demonstration purposes only.