Chapter 1. Prototypes and Why We Use Them

It's impossible to design the perfect product the first time we try. It's not that we are not smart designers, it's just the nature of our craft that we need to work through several versions of an idea before our creation can approach a more perfect form.

This is where prototyping comes in. Prototypes allow us to build a digital representation of a user experience that can be put on a real device and shared with users. Prototypes are essentially communication tools that allow us to share proposed functionality with users and stakeholders to see if our designs address their user goals and business needs, and collect feedback from them in return. Prototyping can help us from making expensive mistakes that can damage our companies and their reputations.

In this chapter we will take a look at the role prototypes play in software development and how we can benefit from them as user experience designers and software developers. We will look specifically at: