Final Thoughts - Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Define and Refine User Interfaces - page 263

Chapter 16: Final Thoughts
This is the end of this topic, but certainly not everything you need to know about user-centered design,
and perhaps not even everything you'd like to know about paper prototyping. It's certainly not the end of
what I'd like to know—in writing this topic I realized that I still have many questions about paper
prototyping, including:
How does paper prototyping change the process of design? Does it allow designers to work in a
fundamentally different way?
Do the benefits of using paper prototypes in usability tests depend more on the medium of paper or
the unfinished nature of the design?
Exactly how does a paper prototype affect a user's behavior compared to testing the real thing? Is
there a better way to spot false problems due to the paper prototype or Computer?
Do teams that use paper prototypes truly spend less time on coding? How much money does the
technique save them?
What's the best way to funnel the results from paper prototype testing into the development
process? When everything is changing rapidly, what's the best way to capture the insights that the
team is learning?
And so on. Now I understand what Einstein meant when he said, "As our circle of knowledge expands,
so does the circumference of the darkness surrounding it." Despite any unanswered questions, I hope
that this topic has given you a good understanding of how paper prototyping works and how you can
use it to benefit your product development process. I'll leave you with these thoughts:
Paper prototyping is a useful technique, but it's just one of many under the larger umbrella of user-
centered design.
This topic has provided an introduction to usability testing—you should read other topics, join
discussion lists, and learn from others with experience. The usability profession is graced with
many generous people who will take the time to help a newcomer.
Don't be afraid to try paper prototyping and usability testing—you won't do it perfectly (no one
does), and you'll learn from your mistakes. Just as your interface will benefit from several iterations
of feedback, so will your usability skills.
And finally, as Oscar Wilde said, "Life is too important to be taken seriously." Have fun!