Creating a prototype of your product before development helps you to make sure that your product works as intended and solves users’ problems. User feedback on your prototype gives you the much-needed insight to improve the idea while it’s still easy to make those changes.
High or low fidelity
There are different types of prototyping and the method of prototyping that you choose depends on what stage your design process is in, your collaboration needs, and personal preference. Some use paper and pen for initial mock-ups before elaborating it into the design process and some use digital mock-ups so that they can easily collaborate in real-time with other designers.
Prototypes are great for testing out ideas and understanding the needs and behaviors of the users. they are great to understand the stakeholder’s perspective that goes into the design process and to quickly iterate it when needed.
Slow down to speed up
Prototyping saves a lot of time in the long run. taking the time to go through the mock-ups means that the issues are identified and rectified in the initial process only, avoiding difficult and time-consuming changes later down the line in development.
Finding a problem in the development phase means extra work for the development team and more time and resources spent on getting the act together. If you have a prototype, you’re happy with before development starts you can be sure the development of your final product will go smoothly.
Easier to start gaining insights
Evaluate the performance of your product through feedback from your users. User testing helps you to evaluate your product and let you understand your perspective about the design. You can answer many questions through user testing about your design, for example:
- Does the user understand the benefits of the product in these marketing materials?
- What does a user expect to happen when they click specific buttons?
- What information is missing when completing a purchase on your website?
- Can a user complete important tasks without getting lost?
- Is there a proper channel to reach the payment gateway button?
Wait until your product is live and iterate on your ideas to get an optimized version of your product.
Building in stakeholder feedback
Stakeholder feedback gives you insights into a list of things to tweak and improve in the design or flow of your project. Incorporating that feedback at the prototyping stage will save you time, resources, and make your product better in the long run.
Prototyping is an integral part of the design process for any digital product. Set yourself up for success from the beginning by adding prototyping to your design process.
