Prototyping & User Manuals

Question 1

Prototype

Answer 1

An unfinished version of a product. A model. Allows stakeholders to interact with an envisioned product, to gain some experience using it. Allows to simulate scenarios. Limited representation of a design.

Question 2

Low Fidelity Prototype

Answer 2

One that does not look very much like the final project. Useful because they are simple, cheap, and quick to produce.

Question 3

Storyboarding

Answer 3

Consists of a series of sketches or screenshots showing how a user might progress through a task using the product under development.

Question 4

High Fidelity Prototype

Answer 4

Looks a lot more like the finished product. Useful for selling ideas to people and testing out technical issues.

Question 5

Downside of Low Fidelity Prototype

Answer 5

Device usually doesn’t actually work. Could accidentally design something that isn’t feasible.

Question 6

Downside of High Fidelity Prototype

Answer 6

Takes a longer time to build. Reviewers comment on superficial aspects. Reluctant to change after spending hours on design.

Question 7

Horizontal Prototyping

Answer 7

Providing a wide range of functions but with little detail (breadth of functionality).

Question 8

Vertical Prototyping

Answer 8

Providing a lot of detail for only a few functions (depth of functionality).

Question 9

User Manuals: First Impressions

Answer 9

User must make a strong and positive first impression. Avoid text-book look. Make it purposeful and effective. Use pictures and diagrams. Provide a lot of white space. Use clean, readable font.

Question 10

User Manuals: Instructions

Answer 10

Instructions must be easy to read and understandable by all users.