Prototype testing guide
You’ve started designing a brand new feature for your product. You’re pretty happy with how it’s looking and working, but need to get some feedback from real users before you feel confident to hand it over for development. Enter prototype testing. In this guide, we explore what prototype testing is and why it’s an important step in any user experience (UX) design process. We look at the different types of prototypes, when you should run a prototype test, and then take you step-by-step through the testing process.
Prototype testing guide: Definition & 5 key benefits
What is a prototype?
A prototype is more than a sketch, wireframe, or mockup. It’s an interactive representation of what a product will look like and how it will function in the real world.
UX teams use prototypes to:
Visualize the final product.
Test with users.
Validate ideas.
Gather feedback to inform the design process.
Prototypes don’t need to be complicated. In fact, they can be rough or more polished depending on your goals and what stage you’re at in the design process.
What is prototype testing?
Prototype testing involves creating a prototype and testing it with real users to validate your design decisions.
There are a couple of primary goals for prototype testing:
To identify any problems or areas for improvement early. That way, you can make necessary changes prior to the development cycle.
To make sure you’re building a product that meets user needs and expectations.
UX design is an iterative process, so testing prototypes early and throughout the entire design process is an important way to ensure you’re building a product your users will find useful.
Before building and testing your prototype, establish some clear goals about what you want to validate. This will help you determine the type of prototype you need. Other factors might also come into play, like where you’re at in the design process and the time and resources you have available.
Once you’ve established your goals and have your prototype ready, it’s time to test. When running a test, aim to recruit participants representative of your target audience. Gathering feedback and seeing how participants interact with the prototype will give you valuable insights on what to improve. We’ll go into this in more detail below.
Why is prototype testing important?
There are several benefits to prototype testing. Let’s explore some of them in more detail.
Validate assumptions
Testing a prototype helps you validate assumptions in real-life scenarios and see how well your product will work for users.
For example, if you’re developing a photo editing app, you might test whether users can import photos and apply filters, effects, touch-ups, and frames. For an e-commerce store, can your users search for a product, add it to the cart, and complete the checkout process? Do they understand the instructions to sign up to your loyalty program?
Prototype testing gives you the confidence that your designs are usable. And this helps reduce the risk of creating a product that won’t succeed when it goes to market.
Discover design problems early
Imagine if you designed a pet sitting app and then realized people had trouble finding pet sitters in their neighborhood. Or they couldn’t find the messaging function or a pet sitter’s availability calendar. By testing a prototype, you can find issues like this early and make sure they get fixed.
Testing at different stages of the design process can also give you a good idea of the features that are and aren’t working. You might do this by asking follow-up questions and analyzing the test results to identify any major themes.
Discover opportunities
Testing with users can also give you opportunities to discover features that your target audience might love.
For example, the qualitative data you collect from prototype testing can inspire new features and capabilities. Using our pet sitting app example, what if you discovered users would like to save and tag their favorite sitters? You could take this on board and build it into the next prototype iteration.
Save time and money
It probably goes without saying that fixing a design in the prototyping stage is simpler and easier than fixing it after the product has launched.
Rolling back the launch and making changes will cost money and take time, especially when your team could be moving onto the next project. Not to mention the negative impact it could have on your brand.
Get stakeholder buy-in
It can be difficult getting stakeholder support for a new product or feature. Prototype testing is a good way to gather data that helps validate decisions. Share this with stakeholders in your organization to get them on board.