Prototyping enables digital product teams to test new ideas in an accelerated and cost-effective way. With the global prototyping marketing estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.4% between 2022 and 2031, culminating in a value of US $15 billion, it is clear that more enterprises are recognising prototyping as a strategic investment that delivers significant commercial benefit and ROI.
What is prototyping?
Prototyping is an iterative and experimental process whereby digital product teams put their ideas into a tangible form that can be interacted with by stakeholders and users. Though prototypes can take many forms, in digital product design they can be broadly categorised into low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes.
Low-fidelity (low-fi) prototypes work best in the early stages of the design process when there are lots of ideas that need to be explored in a short period of time. These prototypes have the bare bones in terms of details and are designed to communicate an idea in an understandable and semi-interactive way.
High-fidelity (hi-fi) prototypes are used during the later stages of the product design process when the product team knows what they want to build, and they want to convey the look and feel of a finished product to users and stakeholders. Hi-fi prototypes therefore look and work as close to the final product as possible.
Prototyping plays a crucial role in showcasing a product’s capabilities to both users and stakeholders, offering them a tangible experience of the concept. Simultaneously, it simplifies the process for developers to identify issues, experiment with solutions, and implement necessary refinements. As a result, prototyping seamlessly aligns with the well-regarded double diamond model for digital product design, a renowned methodology for problem identification and solution development.
Benefits of prototyping
Early visualisation
Prototypes provide a concrete representation of a concept or design, allowing for an early visualisation of the final product. This offers numerous advantages, including the opportunity for design teams to utilise the prototype for user testing and feedback collection. This invaluable input aids in identifying usability issues and gaining insights for refinement. Additionally, prototyping proves highly effective in visualising complex systems or products, simplifying intricate processes, and enhancing their comprehensibility, which, in turn, facilitates improvements.
Better user experience
A prevalent issue in digital product design is the tendency for design teams to emphasise a product’s visual aesthetics over its functionality, particularly in the initial design phases when the product’s fundamental elements are still taking shape. However, prototyping naturally guides design teams away from this compartmentalised thinking, fostering a more holistic approach that centres on user interaction. This shift occurs because, during the prototyping phase, design teams are encouraged to incorporate interactive elements, leading them to consider how users will engage with the product. The outcome is a product in which considerations about its usage inform the entire design process, resulting in an improved user experience and greater accessibility for all users.
Cost savings and efficiency gains
Prototyping empowers design teams to detect and tackle necessary changes early in the product development process, a cost-effective approach compared to later-stage adjustments. Additionally, it expedites the product development cycle by facilitating swift testing and enhancement of concepts and designs. Consequently, this acceleration reduces time-to-market, as teams can focus less on deliberation and more on using prototypes to explore different paths and refine their product.
Consequences of not prototyping
Potentially missed features
As mentioned earlier, prototyping compels designers to engage with a basic version of a product concept, making it easier to identify potentially overlooked features and functionalities for inclusion. Failing to prototype raises the risk of design teams advancing a product through development without realising the absence of a critical element. When this realisation occurs later in the process, it results in a more advanced development stage and incurs additional time and cost for rectification.
Accessibility problems
Considering that 16% of the global population lives with some form of disability, it’s imperative to recognise that your product will be used by individuals who depend on it to meet accessibility standards. Neglecting these standards not only risks alienating users but also opens the door to potential legal issues. Prototyping and directly testing user experiences with a diverse range of individuals are indispensable for a product’s success. Without this approach, design teams may struggle to conduct essential accessibility testing, encompassing critical factors like colour contrast, keyboard navigation, and text resizing, all of which are vital for ensuring accessibility across a variety of use cases and scenarios.
Not knowing device constraints
Whether you’re crafting designs for a smartphone, tablet, or television, direct interaction with a product on a physical screen equips design teams to engage with it from a user’s perspective, conduct thorough feature testing, and gain insights into its behaviour. Testing a prototype on the intended devices also facilitates the discovery of any inherent constraints. Without the prototyping process, these limitations might remain hidden until a user’s actual interaction, potentially impeding their overall experience.
How to prototype
1. Define the problem
The prototyping process begins with a viable idea for a digital product that effectively addresses a real-world problem that you can articulate.
Begin by thinking about the result that you want to offer and then work backwards to determine how your product will achieve it. This will be your unique selling proposition which, ideally, should be able to tell you two things:
The specific problem your product addresses.
What sets your product apart, making it distinct from others in the market.
2. Begin ideating
The ideation phase is the critical stage where your primary focus should be on solving the problem and delving into ideas regarding the potential appearance and functionality of your product. Multiple techniques can be employed to aid your team in this creative process, ranging from brainstorming sessions to the use of storyboards and sketches.
This phase often proves to be the lengthiest, involving not only the generation and articulation of a wide array of ideas but also the process of narrowing down and eliminating those that prove unfeasible. This curation leads to only a select few ideas that will advance to the subsequent stage of development.
3. Build the prototype
The prototyping stage, as we’ve previously discussed, plays a pivotal role in transforming abstract ideas into tangible assets that can be interacted with, whether it’s at a basic (lo-fi) or more advanced (hi-fi) level, tailored to the specific requirements of the product in question.
By crafting scaled-down prototypes, design teams can gauge the feasibility of the concept and pinpoint any potential limitations or issues the product might encounter. In essence, the process of prototyping contributes to the final product’s ability to address the identified problem and align with the expected customer requirements.
4. Test and gather feedback
After constructing your prototype, the subsequent step involves seeking feedback by putting it into the hands of your users, ideally speaking. Sharing the prototype with individuals you’ve pinpointed as potential users is crucial for collecting high-quality feedback and steering clear of any potential bias that might arise from those closely associated with the product, such as stakeholders and developers.
5. Refine the product and iterate
Prototyping is inherently an iterative process. You set it in motion, gather feedback, make necessary adjustments and refinements, and then, cycle through this process again and again until you’ve honed your prototype into a hi-fi version that closely resembles the final product.
As your prototype evolves from its foundational lo-fi stage to a more sophisticated hi-fi rendition of your product concept, you might consider incorporating both moderated and unmoderated usability tests instead of solely distributing the prototype and soliciting feedback. This approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of how your product prototype effectively addresses the overarching problem it’s designed to solve.
Incorporating prototyping into digital product design
Designing digital products to provide a positive customer experience and effectively address a specific problem necessitates a development process that accommodates testing and encourages designers to integrate feedback and apply lessons learned. Prototyping stands as a vital cornerstone in this endeavour.
Prototyping empowers designers to translate their ideas into tangible visualisations and assess whether the envisioned product aligns with the expectations of stakeholders and potential users. In essence, it helps determine if the product genuinely fulfils its intended purpose.
In the absence of prototyping, designers run the risk of releasing a product that is inaccessible, deficient in essential features, and unable to fulfil its intended function. Such missteps can result in escalated costs and project delays.
Adrenalin is a leading digital product and technology agency for Australia’s top brands and organisations. Stay informed about the latest digital product trends, strategies, and tactics by subscribing to the Adrenalin newsletter below.
Learn from us
Join thousands of other Product Design experts who depend on Adrenalin for insights
