Written by Federico Zanetello

Description: Learn how to quickly build interactive prototypes! See how you can test new ideas and improve upon existing ones with minimal time investment and using tools you are already familiar with.

When you get an idea for an app, don't dive into building it: once you get committed to code, you're really deep into how your app is going to work, and you don't get much leeway to explore all the alternatives that you could.

Make Prototypes Instead

Why?

• test ideas
• save time and money (by making sure that when you commit to building something by writing code, designing assets, you're building the right thing)
• get new ideas (making and prototypes to people will bring new insights that will help make your product even better)

Loop process

• Make prototypes
• Show them to people
• Learn from the feedback

Do them over and over until you know you're really making the right thing.

Examples on how to make prototypes

Developers:

• Xcode + Swift
• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Designers:

• Sketch
• Illustrator

Others:

• Keynote
• or your favorite text processor

How can you make your prototype better

• before showing the prototype to people, have some theories about what will work and what won't, and look for evidence that supports or contradicts those theories
• don't argue, defend, or dismiss the feedback you get
• show your prototypes in context, on the device they're meant for, in a somewhat realistic situation
• once you've shown our prototypes, take a moment to step back and learn from the feedback that you have gathered
  • What is working?
  • What is not working?
  • Do we refine what we have?
  • Or do we try something else altogether?