Boxes And Arrows : The Design Behind the Design

Article Idea:

Measuring Prototype Fidelity

suggested by Mark Kraemer on 2006/09/20

Fidelity for prototypes can be roughly measured by 3 attributes: visual detail, functional depth, and technical reuse. The obvious trade-offs are the more realistic any of these attributes becomes, the most cost there is involved. The effort for including visual detail on each page I think is discounted above when you consider the cost of maintaining that consistent style over multiple pages, unless you increase the technical reuse attribute as well (CSS) which in turn provides more cost.

I don’t think there’s a single silver bullet / best practice for how to prototype for every single project. One should consider who the prototype is for (investors? the client’s business analyst? end users in usability testing? your developers?) Each group will have different needs in each of the 3 attributes. Design your prototype to meet the needs of these interim users and you’ll find the right balance of cost/value for visual detail, functional depth, and technical reuse.

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Please take a look at my presentation on this topic posted at http://markup.thekraemers.com/downloads/ .

If you’re interested, I would be willing in converting this presentation into an article. I’d likely leave out the specific case study portions, but the idea of understanding all three fidelity attributes of prototypes and matching them to the interim user needs might make an interesting story on its own.

What do you think?