Prototyping for criminal masterminds

How to get one step ahead of your users with prototyping

This article is day 22 of a 31 day series. A mash-up of the Inktober 2022 prompt list and UX terminology. Read more about the challenge here.

Day 22 | Inktober prompt: Heist | UX Term: Prototype

The biggest in recorded history

What sort of images come to mind when you think of a heist? Or what other words pop into your mind? For me it’s things like “the perfect heist” which is the ultimate goal for any loveable thief. I love in the movies where the partner in crime turns out to be a double crossing jerk face that leaves in some private jet with the loot. Then you see them in the air laughing at their own cunning. They open the briefcase with said loot, and find nothing inside.

Oh snap.

That’s where this idea comes from, of always being a step ahead. Whoever can look further into the future and determine what others are likely to do, will win. And that, my friends, is why we make prototypes.

What is a prototype?

A prototype is a representation of your product that you are able to interact with to simulate what the actual product will be like. It’s pretty neat if you think about it. It’s like our toys from when we were kids grew up so that we could still play.

Granted they’re used for very serious work. Maybe not as serious as a heist, but they are allowing us to take a glimpse into the future in a very special way. Prototypes of an app will include wireframes of a selection of the screens that will exist within the app. They are then wired up using tools that are very specifically designed for this purpose, so that you can complete very specific tasks. So without coding anything, you can make connections from the part of the screen with a button on it to the screen that button would connect users to in the real world. It’s basically magic.

Why is it important to UX?

We use prototypes primarily for testing, but they can serve other functions as well. With many products, the stages of development that include prototyping may also include seeking funding to help get the product built in the real world. A prototype does an amazing job of showing potential investors what their money would be used to create. Granted, getting money to build your product, is not exactly user experience-focused, but without it, what user will ever get to experience your product? So it’s important as a tool for showcasing functionality, and for testing usability.

But why not just build the thing and show people, you might ask? Well friends, I don’t know how much time you’ve spent developing apps, but actually creating a functioning app takes some serious time and resources. And when it comes to testing, or even just showing the thing off, you can focus, not on building a product for countless people to use fully, but for individuals to interact with in very specific ways that align with the examples that you decide on. You can learn and refine before it becomes costly to do so.

Now I don’t know why the first examples that come to mind are food related. I just had dinner maybe an hour ago so I’m not hungry, but no mind, it works, so here we go.

Let’s say you work for a catering company. A couple (potential investors) come in and want you to cater their big event next month for 500 people (potential users). Now you want to show them the value you can provide with a 3 course meal that all of their guests will enjoy (the product). But are you going to throw together 500 salads, dinners and desserts so they can see what that will look like? Or can you maybe put a plate together with samples of each for them to try (the prototype)?

If you said you’d make 500 salads, dinners and desserts, just go now. We’re talking about serious matters here remember? And you’re just being silly.

We use this method of thinking about things quite often in life. With even just a small sampling, you can showcase the value, and you can gather feedback (user testing) so you can make adjustments and end up at the final result, be it adjusting the menu to include a vegetarian option, or adding the option for users to change their avatar within the app.

How do you make one?

This will vary depending on what it is that you’re prototyping, but a common method is to start with creating screens. You’ll see these most commonly two ways:

• mid-fidelity, where the screens use placeholder images and text, with no colors or styling applied
• high-fidelity, where the prototype is made to look as much like the real thing as possible.

Both are valuable in their own way.

I typically recommend mid-fidelity when I’m conducting user testing. It allows users to interact with and respond to the user experience without getting distracted by design elements. On occasion, you may need higher fidelity to test specific pieces, so it’s best just to understand the primary principles of them, and use the approach that best fits what you’re trying to test.

Takeaway

Creating a prototype is not pulling a heist on your users. It’s being savvy about how to accomplish the most. By gathering the insights necessary to move forward, and testing functionality when it’s at a stage that is still very simple to manipulate, you’re getting ahead of needs and wants and delivering a satisfying user experience. Which is way better than an empty briefcase.