Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
argument any CFO will understand. If you can show your clients how prototyping will cre-
ate better products for a lower cost, then opposing it begins to seem foolish.
Every designer has his or her own approach to sketching and prototyping. Some con-
centrate on low fidelity models, which usually means sketching on paper. This kind of
pa-
per prototyping
can provide quick and easy physical images of interfaces, thereby giving
clients and users a preview of how a product might be laid out on the screen. These screen-
like images are useful for anyone who's familiar with the design process. If you've seen an
app move from this stage to a fully developed product on a mobile screen, then you have a
sense of what this drawing means in relation to your own goals. But paper prototypes have
their limits. For a normal user, these drawings lack context, and often these users have a
hard time making the connection between the sketch and a small glowing screen. If a client
can't really see the app, she probably won't be able to imagine using it either. In such a
case, the sketch is a low fidelity early phase in the process.
Some designers work with a more mixed fidelity approach known as
paper-in-screen
prototyping
. In his article, “Paper-in-Screen Prototyping,” in
UX Magazine
, Dell Interac-
tion Designer Diego Pulido writes: “The idea behind this technique is simple: place the
paper prototype of the mobile application
inside
the mobile device.” Different designers do
this different ways. Some take a digital photo of the drawing, while others scan it. In either
case, designers and clients can see a rough image of the product on the mobile screen. Seen
in this context, the app gains an immediacy that it might lack in the sketch, but it's also
obviously unfinished. According to Pulido, this “allows [users] to provide feedback they
otherwise might not have shared for fear of criticizing a design that appears to have many
hours of work behind it.”
Many digital designers, myself included, tend to begin with low fidelity sketches, then
go directly to high fidelity methods such as
wireframes
.
One good example from my own experience was a project I did for a financial company
called First Rate. First Rate was an existing brand with an established customer base. The
company already had a logo, website and clients. They were using existing software.
When First Rate contacted me about their project, I knew absolutely nothing about the
financial sector. At that time, I thought of the financial industry as a bunch of guys who
wore suits to work, and did whatever they had to do with other people's money. If I was go-
ing to figure out UX for financial gurus, I needed a crash course on their industry. How did
they see themselves? What was their role in the world of money and investment? Who were
their clients, and how did the company intend to serve them? What image did they project
to potential clients? What were First Rate's values? What were their goals? What was their
