You're struggling to solve a design problem. How can you use prototyping to get unstuck?

1 Define your problem

Before you start prototyping, it's important to have a clear understanding of the problem you're trying to solve. To do this, you can ask questions, conduct interviews, do research, create personas and scenarios, and make problem statements and hypotheses. This will help you gain insight into the goal or purpose of your design, the users and stakeholders, their needs and expectations, the constraints and requirements of the project, and how you'll measure success. Defining your problem will help you narrow down your focus, set your scope, and guide your prototyping process.

2 Sketch your ideas

Once you have a defined problem, you can start generating ideas for possible solutions. Sketching is a great way to quickly visualize your ideas and explore different options. It can help you brainstorm and generate multiple ideas, express and communicate your thoughts, compare and evaluate different options, and select and refine the best ideas. You can use various tools for sketching, such as paper and pencil, whiteboard and markers, or digital drawing apps. Sketching your ideas will help unleash your creativity, stimulate your imagination, and ultimately find the most promising solutions.

3 Choose your prototype

Once you have sketched your ideas, it is important to decide on the type and level of prototype that best meets your purpose and resources. You can choose between a low-fidelity or high-fidelity prototype, a horizontal or vertical prototype, and a paper or digital prototype. Low-fidelity prototypes are rough and simple representations, while high-fidelity prototypes are detailed and realistic. Horizontal prototypes cover a wide range of features but with little depth or detail, while vertical prototypes cover a narrow range of features but with high depth or detail. Paper prototypes are physical models made with paper and other materials, whereas digital prototypes are virtual models made with software or online tools. Ultimately, selecting the right prototype will help you determine the scope, complexity, and fidelity of your design representation.

4 Build your prototype

Now that you have chosen your prototype, you can start building it. The process of transforming your sketches into a tangible and interactive model of your design can help you test and validate your assumptions, experiment and learn by doing, discover and fix errors and bugs, and enhance and optimize your design. To build your prototype, you can use various materials and methods such as paper, cardboard, wireframes, mockups, prototyping software and online tools, code, scripts and APIs. Constructing your prototype will assist in bringing your design to life, making it more concrete, and preparing it for testing.

5 Test your prototype

Once you have built your prototype, you need to test it with real or potential users. Testing your prototype is the process of evaluating your design's usability, functionality, and desirability. This can help you gather and analyze feedback, observe user behavior, identify and prioritize issues and gaps, and validate or invalidate your hypotheses. To do this, use various techniques and tools such as user interviews and surveys, usability testing and task analysis, heuristic evaluation and expert review, as well as analytics and metrics. Testing your prototype will provide insight into how your design performs, meets user needs, and solves the problem.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?