Blog 8- Prototyping detailed
Level of fidelity
It is fair to say that our product has a middle to high level of fidelity. It is relatively high as we have refined our design, layout and pathways to make sure the app can run smoothly during prototype demonstration. Even though we started off with low fidelity, we quickly realized that it would be ideal for a higher level of fidelity to make the prototyping as realistic as possible, but also to ease the processes and tasks of prototype demonstration. Therefore we increased the level of fidelity , but not to the point of programming the product.
Design
The visual style of the prototype is essential in the prototyping as it becomes a tool for enchancing readability and communication. We have decided to use a Green theme combined with neutral blacks and whites, and the font roboto for the design. By limiting the color choices, we also simplify the design. Our icons and buttons are made to be as universal as possible. They all reoccur in the same format to simplify the navigation and communicate familiarity.
Pathways
As our main goal is to increase community engagement in the society, one the most important feature of this platform was the comment section. This became one of the pathways to test the user on, in the form of a task, where they had to post a comment about a development. The other important pathway is the designer’s pathway to editing and interact with the project.
Goals for the prototyping demonstration
Our main goal for the prototyping demonstration is to gain an insight into the interaction between product and user. We want to understand the products use in a context and see what areas the product lacks in. Our goals will therefore be: -To see the pathway to finding or completing our tasks such as commenting and checking their engagement level.
-To understand the main weaknesses of the product
-To understand the readability of the product and the challenges of navigating through the app.
Prototype demonstration and User testing
We have generated a list of interview questions as well as a sheet for user testing. The sheet for user testing will largely focus on the pathways and tasks, while the set of interview questions are more for the overall feedback.
Hello team, thank very much for the entry. The week 8 post was mostly designed to help you discuss what considerations you put into designing your prototype reading for testing. It’s good to see you have picked up on some basic good practice in user interface design, such as constraining colour choices, having clear ‘calls to action’ in your design to help clarify user pathways.
Two critiques I may mentioned here is that it’s not entirely clear what exactly you decided to prototype to a ‘medium level of fidelity’; what did ‘low fidelity’ or ‘high fidelity’ mean in the context of your project, and in relation to what we were perhaps discussing in the literature (regarding materials and prototyping approaches?). The other question I had relates to the section ‘pathways’. Could you perhaps clarify what pathway you think users would take? Some readers may not remember your story board that outlined the logic of existence for your product idea. It would be helpful to relate the pathways you designed to some of the final user interfaces that you produced. More generally, it may be good to show the progress of user interfaces from low fidelity (initial wire frames?) to higher fidelity (end result?).
The last two sections on goals for prototyping will lead you into the blog entry for week 9. The blog entry for week nine (due 13th Dec) can start by reiterating the goals for your prototyping sessions and your concept for the actual usability testing sessions. It would also be an opportunity to to discuss your script and the any materials you used for documentation of usability sessions in the entry for week nine in more detail. Perhaps also briefly mention any consideration for the right environment for running your user tests there; and draw on the reading material (e.g. design sprint book) to reflect on the five-act interview.
I look forward to your next entry. Onwards.