Week 9 | Design and Prototyping

What is Prototype?
Prototyping is the process of building a model of a system. It was the first example that you do similar to the product but it is used for testing before the real one being publish. In terms of an information system, prototypes are employed to help system designers build an information system that intuitive and easy to manipulate for end users. Prototyping is an iterative process that is part of the analysis phase of the systems development life cycle. It can be in many ways but usually it was a paper-based outline of a screen or a set of screen, 3D paper or cardboards mock-up, stacks of hyperlink screenshot or electronic picture.

There two types of prototype:
- Low fidelity prototype is a prototype that is sketchy and incomplete, that has some characteristics of the target product but is otherwise simple, usually in order to quickly produce the prototype and test broad concepts. For example, storyboard, sketching and prototyping with index cards.

- High fidelity prototype is a prototype that is quite close to the final product, with lots of detail and functionality. From a user testing point of view, a high-fidelity prototype is close enough to a final product to be able to examine usability questions in detail and make strong conclusions about how behavior will relate to use of the final product. For example, prototype of a software system developed in Visual Basic.

Advantages of Prototyping :
-Developers receive quantifiable user feedback.

-Reduces development time.
-Results in higher user satisfaction.

-Reduces development costs.
-Requires user involvement.

Disadvantages of Prototyping :
-Sometimes leads to incomplete documentation.

-Developers can become too attached to their prototypes

-Can lead to insufficient analysis.

-Users expect the performance of the ultimate system to be the same as the prototype.
-Can cause systems to be left unfinished and/or implemented before they are ready.

Prototype model vs real model

AZANISA 

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