Comments on: Paper prototyping: IT’s best kept secret?

By: Jack Hughes

Jack Hughes — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:24:52 +0000

@ses5909 – yes, we’ve used it successfully. Not sure how you could use it remotely though. Perhaps you could paper prototype until you are happy with the design and then move onto a digital prototype when you are happy you’ve found a workable design.

By: ses5909

ses5909 — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 07:58:03 +0000

Is this something you have been successful with jack? We do the mockups first before programming but have never considered using paper. I don’t know how effective it would be when 95% of our clients are remotely located (I’m in Belgium and clients are in the US)

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:30:30 +0000

If a process can’t be agreed upon by people, the computer is not going to make it any more possible. It only transfers the burden of management to the programmer, who usually has the least amount of experience, authority, and desire to manage others.

Another advantage of paper design is it serves as an audit trail, which comes in very handy for dealing with customers who want changes made without paying for them.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:42:31 +0000

>“feedback from your users on how well the system suits their needs” doesn’t tell us how much better some other design might suit their needs

True…prototype & test multiple solutions.

By: Isaac gouy

Isaac gouy — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:51:11 +0000

(I don’t understand why the Name/Mail fields in this form force what I type to uppercase – I keep checking if I accidentally hit caps lock.)

“feedback from your users on how well the system suits their needs” doesn’t tell us how much better some other design might suit their needs – design is about exploration of alternatives, prototyping is about refinement of one alternative.

By: Jack Hughes

Jack Hughes — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:29:56 +0000

@Isaac: usability testing is a design technique. You perform usability testing in order to find out whether a design is effective or not. So, I don’t understand why you are saying that usability testing isn’t a design technique.

By: Isaac Gouy

Isaac Gouy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:05:23 +0000

Paper prototyping is a usability testing technique not a design technique.

“… prototyping is like a spiral closing in along a single trajectory.”

“Design is about exploring and comparing the relative merits of alternatives. There is not just one path, and at any given time and for any given question, there may be numerous different alternatives being considered, only one of which will eventually find itself in the product.”

Sketching User Experience: getting the design right and the right design. (Author website)
http://www.billbuxton.com/

Getting the Right Design and the Design Right: Testing Many Is Better Than One (pdf)
http://www.billbuxton.com/rightDesign.pdf

User Sketches: A Quick, Inexpensive, and Effective way to Elicit More reflective User Feedback (pdf)
http://www.billbuxton.com/UserSketches.pdf

By: Adam Whitlock » Paper Prototyping

Adam Whitlock » Paper Prototyping — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:55:19 +0000

[...] Paper has first, and foremost, been a tool. Either to record the days deeds or expressing ones mind, it has been a tool. People that work with IT too much tend to forget it. Sometimes they just need a slap in the head. When I read this article about using paper to lay out interfaces, it made too much sense. In fact I wanted to slap myself in the head. *SLAP* Link: http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/2007/10/11/paper-prototyping-its-best-kept-secret/ [...]

By: Jack Hughes

Jack Hughes — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:59:15 +0000

@Mantari: I guess you could say that Though, I usually manage without the dice!

By: Mantari Damacy

Mantari Damacy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:50:29 +0000

OMG! It is like a role playing game, except, for using a computer!

PLAYER: “Okay, I save my file.”
GM: [dice clatters, looks up chart] Okay, you try to save your file, A new window pops up on the screen that indicates a general I/O error, but gives no specific details.
PLAYER: “Oh no! I open up the case, and pull the boot disc off of the IDE controller!”
GM: Okay. [dice clatters] Well, you manage to open up the case without tripping the power, but you’re not familiar with the internal workings of this machine. You can’t locate any IDE drives…