Prototypes
What
An early sample, model, or version of your product or service that is usually cheap and easy to make. It allows you to test early on if (parts of) your product or service work as you expected.
Why
A prototype allows you to test your assumptions about how your product or service will work before you invest in fully developing your solution. It will generate a large amount of useful feedback from future ‘users’ of your solution, which will result in a more relevant and successful product or service.
How
1. Select the following prototype formats that best fit your prototype plan:
• Paper prototype: hand-made sketches to test interfaces for digital products. These can be created using plain paper on which you draw all the pages of your product. You “fake” the interaction by asking a tester to tap the paper and manually show them the next ‘screen’.
• Clickable prototype: Digital mockups to test a digital tool. The tester can click through the most important buttons in the mockup to see how content is structured and to check how easily they navigate through the tool.
• 3D prototype: A life-sized 3D model of your envisioned product, or of a product that is central in the operation of your service. The tester can interact with the 3D model and can ‘fake’ their interaction with it.
• Role play : Create a setting in which the tester can experience a service or an interaction with the envisioned product. Team members can play the role of, for example, a shop owner that sells the product or service to a customer or of a help desk agent that uses the product or service in their work.
2. Create your prototype(s) based on the interaction you want to test and the skills of your team.
The project team
1-4 hours
• Paper prototype: paper, scissors, markers
• Clickable prototype: Software such as: Invision or powerpoint
• 3d prototype: Paper, cardboard, scissors, markers, Lego, wood, tape and any other material you can find and re-use
• Roleplay: People and any props you can find