Website prototyping

Written specifications and static mock-ups leave too much to the imagination. Everybody reads them and pictures something slightly different, and disagreements only surface when the thing is built. A clickable prototype makes it concrete. Your team can use it, your board can use it, and most importantly your customers can use it, and you can watch where they get stuck.

The right level of detail depends on the question you’re asking. Rough, greyscale wireframes are good for testing structure and flow, as nobody gets distracted by colours. High-fidelity prototypes that look like the finished product are better for checking reactions to design, or for showing to investors and stakeholders. Coded prototypes are worthwhile when something depends on real data or complex interaction, such as a live search or a configurator.

When a prototype pays for itself

Prototypes are especially useful when the project is expensive, when several people need to agree, or when you’re unsure how users will react. Equally, they’re not needed for everything. A small brochure site with a well-understood structure may not justify the step. And prototypes are for learning, so don’t let them turn into production code. It’s usually cheaper to rebuild properly than to harden something that was built quickly to answer a question.