Prototyping is a technique used to support the design process. It is a way of finding acceptable designs. By using prototypes, users can be involved from the outset in looking at the system interface / functionality and how it can be improved. There are various styles of prototyping that can be used. Some of these styles of prototyping are listed below:

- Rapid / Evolutionary / Incremental Prototyping
- Full prototyping
- Paper prototyping
- Vertical prototyping
- Horizontal prototyping

Full prototyping involves creating a fully functional design but it will have been put together very quickly or possibly using a prototyping language. It will not be a finished product but will give a very good idea as to what the system will look like and what it will be able to do. Paper prototypes have no functionality and are simply described using pieces of paper. Vertical prototypes offer full functionality for a small part of the system whereas horizontal prototypes offer very limited functionality but they show the overall system.

Top level prototyping allows for product conceptualisation which involves deciding what the overall system will look like. At a deeper level, task level prototyping assesses the suitability of the design related to how well users can carry out necessary tasks.

In prototyping, the developer must be willing to throw away parts of versions, or even whole versions, that do not satisfy the requirements. If a function is unnecessary, it should be discarded. This may be hard to do, especially if a fair amount of effort was involved in designing the function in the first place. In the long-run this will help the system design maintain a level of clarity which will enable increased ease of use for the future users.

Some further tools and methods used in prototyping are outlined below.

Mock-ups / Story Boards

Mock-ups or story board based prototypes can exist on paper, on a white board, or within a slideshow presentation. They can be used to mimic interactivity and functionality. They cannot be used in any final system implementation so they will be discarded after they have served their purpose.

Visual Programming Tools

These allow for a visual system to be built quickly with limited functionality. This allows the interface designs to be tested from an early stage and also the potential / future users can see what the system will look like. In some cases it may be possible to use these interface designs directly in the final implementation. The Visual Basic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is an example of a visual programming tool.

High-Fidelity and Low-Fidelity Prototypes

A high-fidelity prototype resembles the final product quite closely. High-fidelity prototypes may be developed using video animations or simulation technologies. Low-fidelity prototypes bear less of a resemblance to the final system. Partly because of this, they are often cheaper and easier to develop in a short period of time.

Search for "Interactive Systems Prototyping" on: Google | Kelkoo | Amazon | eBay (UK) | eBay (US)

Search for "Interactive Systems Prototyping" on the rest of Computing Students: Interactive Systems Prototyping