Week 5: Paper prototyping

Snyder: Making a paper prototype

Summary

Snyder offers a surprisingly robust system for paper prototyping. He suggests using white poster board as a background upon which other pieces can be placed – almost as a template that allows pieces to be swapped out as needed – plus blank paper for larger pieces and note card stock or index cards for smaller pieces. He notes that a background aids both the prototype designer and the test subject, by providing a “reality check” about what can fit on the screen and by framing the user’s visual experience as a representation of a computer screen. (This is one of the most useful takeaways for me.) This “screen real estate” check can be especially valuable in evaluating designs for mobile devices. Snyder also suggests removable tape to represent radio buttons, checkboxes and text fields, and index cards for dialogue boxes. New pieces can be introduced manually to simulate links when the user navigates by pressing a “button” or choosing a menu option. Snyder emphasizes that it’s important to represent the state of each button or menu item so that the user doesn’t have to remember his or her choices. Also, and more usefully for the designer, “sometimes it's also possible to miss subtle problems unless you have responded to all the user's actions in the exact order they happened.” (p. 83)

Critique

Snyder’s treatment is far more robust than I would have imagined, though his easygoing and often fun approach (scissors: “Don’t run with them!”) makes it quite accessible. When I first heard the term “paper prototype,” I imagined something that was hand-drawn on a single piece of paper, without any parts to switch out as the user navigates the “site.” I’ve been far too naïve about this. I’m going to have to devote serious thought to my prototype content and presentation, as opposed to simply drawing some images and foisting them on a test subject. It’s also comforting that he emphasizes that artistic ability is not needed to make a prototype. That’s reassuring for someone like me who isn’t terribly good at drawing. Of all the parts listed, I think I’ll be using the expandable dialog boxes/expandable lists the most for my grammar exercises, so it’s great to have these sections to refer to later. Time to find some removable tape!

Further, I see strong parallels here to a writer’s draft of a story: “If you're a writer or trainer, testing a paper prototype will show you what information users truly need, as opposed to what's nice but not necessary. You'll also get a sense of where users look for information.” (p. 95) This is what writers do; create a fast draft (prototype) to tell them what’s needed and what isn’t, and to weigh how a reader (the user) might perceive and process it. This is some of the most useful and important advice Snyder presents.

Overall, this chapter gives me far more confidence that I can create an effective and efficient paper prototype.