Prototyping and User Manuals

Question 1

prototype

Answer 1

allows stakeholders to interact with an envisioned product, to gain some experience of using it in a realistic setting. and to explore imagined uses. is a limited representation of a design that allows users to interact with it and to explore its suitability
Not designed to replicate full functionality
Acts as an interim step between conception of a design and full implementation of it
Answer questions about the design and helps designers to choose between alternative designs

Question 2

A prototype could be:

Answer 2

a paper-based outline of a screen or set of screens
an electronic ‘picture’
a video simulation of a task
a three-dimensional paper and cardboard mockup of a whole workstation
a simple stack of hyperlinked screen shots

Question 3

What does it mean to simulate scenarios of use?

Answer 3

You see how you’d interact with the object on a day to day basis. What does the device feel like? At what point in the day would you like to use its features? What kind of environments?

Question 4

Purpose of a prototype:

Answer 4

test out the technical feasibility of an idea
clarify some vague requirements
do some user testing and evaluation, using empirical research methods or a more qualitative approach

Question 5

low-fidelity prototyping

Answer 5

does not look very much like the final product
For example, it might use materials that are very different from the intended final version, such as paper and cardboard rather than electronic screens and metal
Low-fidelity prototypes are useful because they tend to be simple, cheap, and quick to produce

Question 6

storyboarding

Answer 6

Consists of a series of sketches or screenshots showing how a user might progress through a task using the product under development
The purpose for doing this is two-fold:
First, to produce a storyboard that can be used toget feedback from users and colleagues
Second, to prompt the design team to consider the scenario and the use of the system in more detail

Question 7

advantage of “sketch-like” not perfect prototype art:

Answer 7

reminds people they are working with an early prototype and if the prototype looks too “slick,” people might expect full functionality

Question 8

high-fidelity prototyping

Answer 8

looks a lot more like the finished product
Uses materials that you would expect to be in the final product
May use software tools like Flash, Visual Basic, PowerPoint, or specialized prototyping software to prototype interfaces
Useful for selling ideas to people and for testing out technical issue

Question 9

downsides of low-fidelity prototypes

Answer 9

The device usually doesn’t actually work!
Could accidentally design something that is not technologically feasible
One reason it’s important to have technical knowledge in a design team

Question 10

downsides of high-fidelity prototypes

Answer 10

Take a longer time to build
Reviewers and testers tend to comment on superficial aspects rather than content
Developers are reluctant to change something they have crafted for hours

Question 11

Compromise with prototyping

Answer 11

breadth of functionalityprovided vs.depth of functionality
These two kinds of prototyping are called horizontal prototyping(providing a wide range of functions but with little detail, i.e. breadth) and vertical prototyping(providing a lot of detail for only a few functions, i.e. depth)