Prototype testing: Types, Benefits, and Best Practices

A prototype is a very important element in software development and it helps to verify the product design before the development begins. Prototype testing is conducted in order to test an early version of the software product by using real users. This helps to know whether your software product will be accepted by the end users once it is released. Through this article, we are going to learn what prototype testing is, its benefits, what are the types of prototype testing, how to conduct it, and the best practices.

What Is a Prototype?

Prototype is an early version of a software product or product concept created to help understand its functionalities and design. Prototypes are mainly used to display how a new design or a feature meets its end-users requirements and desires.

What Is Prototype Testing?

Prototype testing is creating prototypes or early mock-up versions of a software application and evaluating its design, functional and non-functional aspects, user experience, and other key factors before moving to the development phase. During prototype testing, project teams present the created prototypes to their target audience and gather audience feedback on which components are approved to proceed with the development and which components should be further improved.

Different Types of Prototypes

There are four different types of prototypes and each of them has its own set of conditions. Let’s get to know what those key prototypes are.

Low-Fidelity Prototypes

Most of the time low-fidelity prototypes are based on papers and they do not allow any user interaction.  Any hand-drawn sketch or a mockup design that is drawn on a sheet of paper can be considered a low-fidelity prototype. A hand-drawn basic layout of the structure of a website dashboard can be given as an example of a low-fidelity prototype. That layout should be drawn on paper and it should display the outlines and the placements of the elements without mentioning any of their features.

High-Fidelity Prototypes

High-fidelity prototypes are completely different from low-fidelity prototypes because they are highly interactive and functional. From every perspective, high-fidelity prototypes are similar to the final software product. These kinds of prototypes contain all the necessary components that should be integrated with the respective final software product. A prototype of a mobile application created using a design tool like Figma can be considered a high-fidelity prototype. It should provide a more realistic preview of the final software application with the actual user interfaces with clickable buttons, page navigation, and other functional components.

Live Data Prototypes

Live data prototypes are more interactive than other traditional prototypes and they always use live user data. Those kinds of prototypes are mostly designed in code form. An e-commerce website prototype that displays live product information, actual product prices and their availability can be taken as an example of a live data prototype.

Feasibility Prototypes

Feasibility prototypes are specially designed to test a selected feature or a component of the software product. Usually, the software project teams make sure to design the function within its predefined boundaries while making feasibility prototypes in order to evaluate the technical aspects behind the respective function. A prototype of a facial recognition feature of a smart mobile banking application that is specially focused on its function can be considered as an example of a feasibility prototype. It should allow the users to interact with the facial recognition feature while evaluating its accuracy within the given scope.

Why Do You Need Prototype Testing?

Prototype testing does not only help the testers to validate the design of the software application. From requirement gathering to fixing defects, it helps all the stakeholders such as developers, business analysts, customers, end-users, etc. Here are some of the reasons that help us to identify why prototype testing is important.

• Saves time and reduces high-costing changes.
• Increases user involvement and customer confidence.
• Gathers correct user requirements and feedback early.
• Helps resolve conflicts in the application early.
• Enhances user experience.
• Helps to build a high-quality product that meets end-user expectations.

What are The Benefits of Testing Prototypes Before Launch?

Testing prototypes before a software product launch gives a lot of benefits for both the customers and the software development teams. Let’s get to know some of those key benefits.

• Detecting and fixing issues during the prototype testing stage is more cost-effective.
• Prototype testing reduces the workload after the software application launch and saves time.
• Prototype testing helps to get customer feedback earlier and improves the overall user experience.
• Users engage earlier when conducting prototype testing while contributing to a successful product launch.
• Prototype testing helps to detect design defects and usability issues.
• Prototype testing identifies risks at the earliest and helps to mitigate those identified potential risks.
• It makes sure that the final product is aligned correctly with the user expectations before the launching of the final software product.

User Testing Methods for Testing Your Prototype

After your prototype creation is completed, it is ready to carry on to the stages of managing your test cases and starting automated testing on it. There are some user testing methods you can conduct on your product prototype. Let’s get to know those user testing methods.

Moderated Testing

Moderated testing is used to gather feedback at earlier stages when designing a new software product. This prototype testing method requires a person who is involved to observe users who interact with the software product, record the major findings and observations of those user interactions, and capture the user’s direct feedback.

Unmoderated Testing

Unmoderated testing has similarities with usability testing but it is less structured than that. Unlike moderated testing, this type of prototype testing does not need the involvement of a moderator. Since unmoderated prototype testing does not require any moderator, lab, or any other test conditions, it is easier and cheaper to conduct this type of testing. However, it will be a bit harder for the testers to sort data when it comes to unmoderated tests.

Remote Testing

Remote prototype testing can be conducted virtually using a tablet or a computer. Because of that, it is easier to get the involvement of a group of users to test the prototype who may feel more comfortable using their own digital devices even from their own homes.

In-Person Testing

In-person prototype testing means the involvement of the users on-site since the development team might need to assess the product functionalities using the users’ facial expressions, body language, etc. Therefore, conducting this prototype testing type is a bit harder than remote testing.

Qualitative Testing

Qualitative testing is designed to evaluate the “why” factor behind every decision made. When conducting qualitative prototype testing, the testers have to gather information on user’s thoughts, feelings, opinions, and challenges they face while using the designed software product. It ultimately helps to develop certain features in a more meaningful manner and reduces the confusion of the end-users.

Quantitative Testing

Quantitative prototype testing gives a more accurate picture of what is happening in the software application and it mainly focuses on the aspects such as performance and stability.

When Should You Test Your Prototype?

Even though you have created a complete and functioning prototype, it is always better to decide when you should conduct prototype testing considering the relevant factors such as scope, timeline, budget, project complexity, etc. The phase you should do prototype testing always depends on what type of prototype you have designed.

Paper-based low-fidelity prototypes are better to test right after completing the initial design work and during the early development stages. Because they mainly give an idea of the layout and the product design. It is better to test high-fidelity prototypes after doing the final changes in the prototype once you have reviewed low-fidelity and the test data. When the developers need proof and evidence to know whether a particular feature works, you can conduct testing tasks for live data prototypes. Feasibility prototypes can be verified before committing resources of the software product and while defining the scope of the software project.

How to Test Your Prototype: Step-By-Step Process

Testing a prototype is a sequential process. Here are the steps that need to be followed in order to test the prototype of your software application.

Step 1 – Gather and Analyze User Information

The first step of prototype testing is to collect and analyze the gathered user data. Once the users have given their feedback and all other user requirements are ready, the project team can go ahead with the rest of the testing steps. Clarity is very important when it comes to user requirements.

Step 2 – Design The Prototype

The most important step is building the prototype of the product that needs to be tested. The prototype should be created using the information that was collected during the first step of the process. There, you can create an initial product design in the first place and create a more interactive prototype that is closer to the end product using that. If needed, you can use real data for the created prototype to make sure that it is more accurate and test one or two of them.

Step 3 – Decide What to Test

During this step, the testers should decide what they want to test in the particular prototype before using a prototype testing tool. There, the testers can focus on whether the functions work according to the given user requirements, whether the page navigations and working correctly, whether the functions have a smooth flow and work with less confusion, whether the components such as buttons are labels placed correctly, etc.

Step 4 – Create a Preliminary Design

A preliminary design is a simplified version of the final prototype that gives the users a rough idea about how the final product should work. The team can start this step by drawing rough sketches and paper drawings to test different designs.

Step 5 – Create Test Scenarios

During this step, testers should create test scenarios considering the initial functionalities of the software application, end-users expectations, and feedback. Most importantly, those test scenarios should cover the real-life scenarios when creating test scenarios.

Step 6 – Initiate User Feedback

There, you can conduct an initial user evaluation, where you present the created prototype to the end-users and get their comments and suggestions on that. Using that information, the prototype can be improved further with less confusion and requirement defects.

Best Practices for Successful Prototype Testing

Prototype testing can be conducted in several ways but it is always better to use best practices when doing prototype testing in order to get the maximum out of it.

• Make sure that the prototype is user-friendly and conduct tests with various user groups.
• Accept that the created prototypes are not perfect; they are created to gather more feedback.
• Encourage users to communicate their feedback about the product.
• Always get consent from the users if you are getting personal information and ensure data privacy.
• Conduct tests in different environments and understand the performance differences.
• Make sure that the prototype aligns with the user’s expectations with less risk of dissatisfaction.

Best Prototype Testing Tools

There are many tools that can be used to conduct prototype testing. Let’s get to know some of those well-known tools.

Figma

Figma is a well-known design and collaboration tool that can be used to create functional prototypes quickly in a more efficient way. Furthermore, it allows real-time feedback to improve the prototypes to the next level.

Framer

Framer is an integrated platform for design, creating prototypes, and development. Specially, it allows to creation of both high and low-fidelity prototypes. Going beyond that, it helps to create interactive prototype designs as well.

UXPin

UXPin is a well-known tool for high-fidelity prototype designing. It is created with a lot of in-built UI elements and integrations and reusable components as well.  Provides the ability to connect with Storybook, Git repo, or NPM package to bring in code components directly into your design system, app, or website.

Conclusion

Test prototypes are a key factor in software development and it allows the development teams to receive valuable feedback to improve the overall quality of the final product. Even though there are various types of prototype testing and usability testing, we should know what to choose from them and when we need to conduct prototype testing. Using the right tools and adhering to best practices will help us to get the maximum out of it. If a development team can successfully conduct prototype testing, there is no doubt about the quality of the end product.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the prototype test model for?

The prototype test model is created to assess and test the functionalities, design, and user experience of a software product during the earlier stages of development. There, you can gather user feedback, detect potential issues, and apply further improvements to the end product.

What are the two main types of prototypes?

The two main types of test prototypes are low-fidelity prototypes and high-fidelity prototypes. Low-fidelity prototypes are mainly paper-based and their interactions are very limited. It is used to display basic designs and layout concepts of the product. High-fidelity prototypes are highly interactive and they provide a more realistic preview of the product compared to the other types of prototypes.

Why is it a good idea to test a prototype?

Testing prototypes gives a lot of advantages. Allowing gathering user feedback in earlier development stages, reducing cost and time, detecting issues at the earliest, and improving user engagement are some of those benefits.

What are the problems that you face when testing a prototype?

Prototypes do not have the complete functionalities most of the time and it is a bit challenging when it comes to testing all aspects of the final product. Sometimes, users misinterpret the components of the prototype which can be affected by the feedback. Sometimes, there can be technical difficulties and constraints when it comes to designing and it can be affected by the representations of the product as well.