

From idea to core prototype in hours, not weeks - williamnewton
http://williamnewton.co/blog/prototype-in-hours-not-weeks/

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thatthatis
Mockup.

This guy is talking about building mockups, and only mockups.

A prototype is a working version of all key features that can be used as if it
were the final product albeit in a somewhat limited fashion (E.g. the edges
aren't rounded)

A mockup demonstrates the value in a non-working fashion so people can respond
to the general idea.

If you don't get mockup vs prototype right, it's pretty hard for me to value
your opinion on these matters.

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williamnewton
This post is talking about prototypes from a usability perspective, not a
technical perspective. A prototype by your definition ( a "real" prototype)
would use data and be built in about the same way as the final product would
be. I'm talking about how to prototype the experience. I see how it's easy for
you to misunderstand me - apologies for not being clear.

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thatthatis
Then it would be helpful if you qualify prototype as "ux prototype" or
"interaction prototype". Paper prototypes, which this is fairly similar to, is
a term that is lexically unambiguous. Without the qualification the title
becomes confusing. I initially thought you were claiming to have a methodology
to get a "real" non trivial prototype in a few hours.

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jbeja
IMHO, I don't know why people keep confusing UI with UX like they are the same
thing, do you actually design the "UX" base on your own intuition without even
know or test what the audience you are targeting for the specific product?.
This more a wire framing to me, since this "prototype" is far from finish. I
wait to read the next chapter since you it seems that it will address some of
my concerns above :). Cheers

~~~
williamnewton
Exactly — start with intuition then get feedback and fix what you were wrong
about. And it's definitely far from finished. Thanks!

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bobbygoodlatte
I too am a fan of rapid prototyping, but the example app here is incredibly
simple. More complex apps require more time to refine & prototype.

That said, this sort of flat prototype should be do-able in a few days for
even the largest of apps.

So, I'm in agreement with OP — except on the timeframe :)

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nswanberg
This is a great post, but in these comments there is a strange fixation on the
terminology. Is it really a mockup? Is the author describing an interface or
an experience? None of these comments really say why the distinction is more
important than the point of the post, which is to get an idea in front of
users.

But if the obsession over the term is forcing you to ignore the point of this
post, possibly this will help: a guy at Google apparently decided that the
distinction was enough to coin the word "pretotyping":
[http://www.scribd.com/doc/62418833/Pretotype-It-Second-
Preto...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/62418833/Pretotype-It-Second-Pretotype-
Edition#page=23)

(Even if the terminology doesn't matter to you, skim the book--it's free here
and has got some great ideas).

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trekky1700
Nice job, though you could argue a big part of the prototyping (in fact, the
main feature) was already completed. Most of the design decisions,
illustration and how the information should be displayed had already been 90%
provided by Neila.

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williamnewton
That's accurate, and I think that's all the more reason to jump in and start.
The content is all there, but there's more detail needed to make an app like
this awesome, including stats and UX polish. I'm advocating for the 'just
start' approach.

~~~
trekky1700
Indeed, the "just start" approach is awesome. It cuts the excuses people find
to continue to "prepare" or procrastinate.

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avoiceandname
I completely agree with your last point on getting feedback and iterating on
your designs. Prototyping is such an important part of the design process. ABP
(always be prototyping.) I wanted a prototyping solution that worked within a
designer's existing workflow which is why we built Stand In
[[http://standin.io](http://standin.io)] on top of Photoshop. It allows us to
keep the prototype always in sync with the design and truly becomes part of
the design process — not just a step afterwards.

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williamnewton
I would use Standin if I used Adobe CC. Nicely done.

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seanmcdirmid
I'm a bit confused by the article's blurring of design and prototyping
boundaries. Is it reasonable (i.e. useful) to convolute wire framing with
prototyping? I once worked as a prototyper for a design studio, and to them
prototype meant an approximation of the product that could be used for
critique and evaluation with users (so maybe a lofi paper prototype, deck-like
click-thru prototype, or even a quick/dirty application).

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williamnewton
Is it not clear that my approach is to 1. map out the idea (wireframing) and
then 2. hack together a prototype?

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seanmcdirmid
Your post mixes together wireframing with prototype hacking. But I guess this
is to be expected when programmers are doing design, a designer would look at
this very differently.

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jbeja
Agree.

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gotofritz
I worked in a large, supposedly ground breaking digital agency where we had a
game manufacturer as client. The client were keen on agile and continuos
prototyping / mockups. Sadly the designers (pardon, 'creatives') and ux didn't
want to know, the were too set in their ways and couldn't get out of the old
workflow: work Photoshop / OmniGraffle; refine until perfect; pass on to
developer. Eventually the client got pissed off and we lost them. The visual
people just couldn't get their head around not having complete perfection at
each step of the way. Shame, because it was a great project.

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Dwolb
This resonates pretty well with me due to my current role in an organization.
Did anyone own the execution side of the project to hold the designers
accountable for late deliverables?

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gotofritz
Of course not, it was a creative agency, our job as developers was to cater to
every creative's wish

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pcurve
I think this is how most people work, unless you're a consultant that get paid
by the amount of deliverables you produce. :-)

Prototyping to solve problems is often the quickest. Pulling other people's
teeth to reach that point is what takes weeks. :-)

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iterable
nice

