prototype design approach

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Prototype Design Approach

Step 1. Design

Use the key users, tasks, and system requirements generated in the previous project phase as support for your prototype design. Remember a prototype is used to illustrated how your system would appear to the customer. You should be creating several (at least 2-3) low-fidelity prototypes e.g., paper sketches, storyboards, or physical mockups. You should also be thinking about what mental model the system will portray to its customers. These prototypes do not have to be advanced or technically correct but they must represent the application in as complete manner as possible. For example, they should contain the core screens that illustrate how the system will work as a whole, including (perhaps) a sample interaction based upon some of the key tasks.

Your low-fidelity prototypes must be hand-drawn or using some very simple computer based tools. These should convey the visual design for your project and show the main screens with text labels, buttons, graphics, etc. An easy way to do this and explain the system is to write an introductory tutorial, which largely shows the main screens and explains what is happening in each one as the user carries out a common task sequence (such as logging in, doing a search, seeing the search results, and sending it to someone). To express dynamics, you should use transition diagrams, i.e. ways in which a screen would be replaced by another screen.

Step 2. Evaluation

At this point, you should have 2-3 prototypes. Next, analyze each and see whether it is even possible to use each one (e.g., are there obvious problems with the conceptual model? Is it implementable?). Do a task-centered system walkthrough for each of your key tasks, and each of your user types. If needed, eliminate the ones that do not work out (and if so you should write a short paragraph in your report explaining why a prototype was eliminated). For the ones that you are still keeping, identify any issues that need to be addressed.

You may wish to reconsider what customers you will address as well as what tasks and requirements you will support. It could be that you were wildly optimistic about what you could do! At this point, you should have a reasonable idea of which prototype styles are worth pursuing, or whether you should start again. Make your decision on what direction(s) to follow. If you have more than one direction, you may want to continue developing both a bit further. If you have no worthy candidates, return to the first step. Remember, a low level prototype is easy (and cheap) to design!

Step 3: Choice and Refinement

Based on the previous step, choose one prototype either by direct selection or by combining various components of your previous prototypes. Refine your prototype by considering the nuances of each task, the functions that must be incorporated, and the expected reaction of each user

Deliverables

Create slides using power-point (or a similar tool) to include the following with each item, using bullets & explanation as needed. Make this precise, so you be able to describe briefly what you have done & yet include the important points.

  • Design – Pictures of each of your rough paper prototypes and descriptions of what these are (As support for Step 1).
  • Evaluation – A short section describing your evaluation phase (Step 2). This section should explain why (if any) some prototypes were dropped, and why others were kept or modified.
  • Choice and Refinement – A short section focused on your work for Step 3. Why did you choose the specific prototype for future development? How the prototype was modified compared to previous ones? Did the user base change? Have you changed any of the planned tasks for your interface?
  • Finalized Design – A concise description of the final physical paper prototype (in bullets, explanation, images etc.)
  • Lessons Learned – A short description of what you did and what you learned. Has your perception on computer interfaces changed?
 
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