Sketching and Prototyping - Data Driven Design - page 50

you can't afford not to prototype.” Designers in other fields have always looked for sens-
ible ways to produce working models that are still subject to revision. The alternative of
releasing the product, then letting paying customers find the glitches, often runs the risk of
alienating the audience we're trying to attract. This is one of the surest ways to send our
clients to the competition.
Those who don't have a lot of experience with digital design prototyping are often skep-
tical about its value. Too many clients think of “digital” as something closely related to
“invisible.” To them “digital” is anything that happens inside the box, or on the surface of
a disk, or out in that amorphous cloud they keep hearing about. It's like the driver who
consciously turns a blind eye to anything “under the hood.” These users just want the mer-
chandise to work—nothing more. They assume we have some kind of testing process, but
that too is invisible. They leave every digital issue to us. It's our job to work out the kinks
so that they can be presented with products and systems that are ready for easy use.
To anyone without a digital vocabulary, the notion of testing a digitally designed proto-
type sounds like a frustrating nightmare of frozen functions and crashed programs. It's the
line on the itemized invoice that many clients would choose to eliminate. Why would they
want such a thing? It's a process that takes time, costs money and often produces design
elements that are quickly abandoned as flawed or unnecessary. Who needs it?
The client needs it. “Prototypes are a more concrete and tactile representation of the
system you're building. They provide tangible experiences,” Warfel writes in Prototyping.
His arguments are backed by the experiences of most UX designers, including myself. Yet,
some digital designers still shortchange this phase.
Designers who haven't done much prototyping often think of it as a complex function
that requires too much explanation to doubting clients. It's a mantra as old as commerce
itself : We've worked without it before, so why start now? Some add more positive notes,
only to discount the viability of prototyping: Sure, it might help, but how do we convince
the client to pay for it? One argument is that it can bring the client into the process in ways
that can't happen without prototyping. A client gets to see the product when it's still subject
to change.
Some clients will be swayed by this argument. If they have questions about functional-
ity, and if they've felt burned by hard-to-use apps before, they might respond to the idea of
being able to see how these work before the design is a done deal. Warfel goes on to say:
“Not only does prototyping let you realize and experience the design faster, but ultimately
it also reduces the waste created by other design and development processes.” This is an