Todd On Oct 1, 2007, at 9:40 AM, Todd Zaki Warfel wrote:
> So, this whole discussion about making clickable wireframes got me > thinking about something. As I'm working through my book, > interviewing a number of people from different backgrounds, I've come > across 5 different types, or purposes perhaps, for prototype: > > 1. As a common communication platform–using them to get everyone on > the same page, avoiding misinterpretation of ideas, using them as a > method to show and tell. I call this a Vision prototype > 2. Work through a design–for designers and developers, prototypes act > as a way to work through your design solution, giving you the ability > to evaluate a few different options, tweak them, and come up with the > best one. This is a Conceptual prototype > 3. Sell your idea internally–using them to sell your design solution > to internal stake holders like senior management, other designers, or > the engineering team. This is a Consensus prototype > 4. Gauge technical feasibility–designers want to do X, but can > engineering do it? Do we have the resources? Is it worth the effort? This is a Technical prototype > 5. As a marketing tool–while similar to number 3, this is for an > external audience. This is a Demo (grin)... > > This isn't to say that one prototype couldn't serve all these > different purposes, but these are different purposes that prototypes > do serve. The other thing I've noticed is that these purposes are > universal to both hi-fi and lo-fi prototypes. > > Thoughts? Any purpose that I'm blatantly missing here? > I think you're spot on. The question of how many of the above purposes any single prototype serves is driven more by budget, timeline, and design / development methodology. With an infinite amount of time and money, who wouldn't at least consider doing both hi-fi and lo-fi versions of each of the five types of prototype? Maybe you'd get bored by the whole exercise. But you'd know a great deal about your proposed design concept... In practice, the very important decisions on which combinations of kinds of prototypes at what level of detail to execute are often largely political, rather than a question of how and where insight into the design itself is most valuable for the designers. Cheers, Joe Lamantia > Cheers! > > Todd Zaki Warfel > President, Design Researcher > Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. > ---------------------------------- > Contact Info > Voice: (215) 825-7423 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > AIM: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Blog: http://toddwarfel.com > ---------------------------------- > In theory, theory and practice are the same. > In practice, they are not. > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help > Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe > Questions .................. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.joelamantia.com "I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare, my purpose is to create." William Blake -- Jerusalem ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe Questions .................. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
