net - UK (2020-04)

VOICES
Opinion

PR

OF

IL

E

Mike Kirwan details the importance of prototyping

in the web design process

A prototype is an example of a product

that lays out the basics of functionality

and design. It’s intended to give the user

an idea of how the end product will work

and highlight any issues before it goes into

final development. Unfortunately, it is

often left out of development cycles, which

can prove costly in the long run.

SCOPE CREEP

The term ‘scope creep’ has become all

too common for anyone in the creative

industry. What starts off as simple brief

quickly escalates into something far more

complex, pushing timelines back and

wasting money.

A quick Google search sees scope creep

defined as: “Continuous or uncontrolled

growth in a project’s scope, at any point

after the project begins. This can occur

when the scope of a project is not properly

defined, documented or controlled.”

It’s not the scale of the project that

makes scope creep so detrimental but the

tendency to underestimate the resources

needed to complete the job by failing to

define early on what it will involve. Most

will know the pain of having a client make

changes to a design already in the final

stages of development. Making large-scale

development changes after product launch

is not only costly but time-consuming.

The traditional web development process

can be broken dow n into four distinct steps:

O Research O Design O Build O Test

Often, with this progression, time and

resources can be lost when changes are

made to the website further down the

line and a lack of testing and interaction

between the design and build stage can

cause issues in the future.

The introduction of prototyping between

the design and final build stage is a simple,

yet invaluable addition to the process.

HANDS-ON TESTING

This interaction and hands-on testing of a

site irons out any technical glitches, bumps

in user experience and clunky design

features that otherwise go unnoticed.

Everything from rough sketches

through to physical wireframes can be

considered prototypes but it’s wise to

invest in some reliable software to build

what is essentially a blueprint of your final

product. Fortunately, there is a surplus of

prototyping software, such as Adobe XD,

Mockplus and Sketch, which can be used to

build simplistic versions of sites to test how

they will look and operate.

By scoping and testing all the features,

designs and information architecture at

the prototyping stage, developers can

provide more realistic estimates early on,

avoiding nasty surprises in cost.

UNBIASED VIEWS

Designers are generally too close to the

product they’re designing, forming their

own personal bias, which prevents them

being impartial and objective. It’s for this

reason that testing should really be carried

out through focus groups to give a more

balanced perspective.

Every user will navigate a site differently,

so it’s important to design a website with

the user in mind. For example, on your

typical ecommerce site some people may

use a search bar to find a product, whereas

others may navigate through the menus.

Prototyping enables you to identify the

ways that users will interact with the site

and consequently this will inform how it

is designed.

If the creative industry more widely

accepts that prototyping is not solely

beneficial for more ‘practical’ industries,

valuable time and effort will be saved

through projects that are firmly rooted in

user experience.

Kirwan is managing director at creative

communications agency RMS, which covers a range

of disciplines from design through to digital marketing.

w: https://www.thisisrms.co.uk

DON’T FORGET

THE PROTOTYPE

PROTOTYPING