3 ms·

Paper Prototyping in Usability Design

8 points by nreece 19y ago

joeguilmette 19y ago
this is ridiculous, just use ConceptDraw.
- jgrahamc 19y ago
  One advantage of paper prototypes is that anyone can draw them. There's no need to learn a tool. Currently, I'm working with a large web site where we are redoing a section of the site (which is a sequence of pages taking you through a financial application process) and paper prototypes have been a good starting point for us. We also have a paper workflow between the numbered pages to illustrate the flow of pages (since it's not strictly linear). The VP of Marketing has a rough time using any new tool that's not trivial (e.g. as easy as Apple Mail) and so making him learn a new tool would not be helpful to our process. However, he can sketch his thoughts nicely. For nicer presentation we are simply using PowerPoint. Everyone has got it and we can take screen shots of existing pages and overlay them with simple drawings using the PPT drawing tools. This has been enough to work through the new design. But thanks for the pointer to ConceptDraw, looks like Visio replacement I've been searching for now that I use a Mac.
  - joshwa 19y ago
    >But thanks for the pointer to ConceptDraw, looks like Visio replacement I've been searching for now that I use a Mac. What you really want is OmniGraffle. http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/ http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/
edw519 19y ago
I have been doing this forever. Tried other things, but always came back to this. Not quite sure why. Maybe because I have always "internalized" better when using pen and paper than when typing or mousing. Maybe because my "hardware" is always on and always with me. Lately, I use 4 x 6 index cards wrapped in a rubber band and 3 different color markers. Perfect fit for a standard shirt pocket, right shape for a screen shot, and always ready to serve. It's surprising when (and where) inspiration hits. People in the supermarket or on an airplane think I'm nuts when I drop everything and pull out my "shirt pocket computer". When I tell them that I'm a programmer, they seem to understand.
antirez 19y ago
I do it for every new application, you may think that you can do the same with a computer but it is not true, in the process of drawing the feeling is very different, there is no zoom, it's not trivial to erase, so you are forced to think in more pure terms every line you are going to trace.

8 points by nreece 19y ago

joeguilmette 19y ago

this is ridiculous, just use ConceptDraw.

jgrahamc 19y ago
One advantage of paper prototypes is that anyone can draw them. There's no need to learn a tool. Currently, I'm working with a large web site where we are redoing a section of the site (which is a sequence of pages taking you through a financial application process) and paper prototypes have been a good starting point for us. We also have a paper workflow between the numbered pages to illustrate the flow of pages (since it's not strictly linear). The VP of Marketing has a rough time using any new tool that's not trivial (e.g. as easy as Apple Mail) and so making him learn a new tool would not be helpful to our process. However, he can sketch his thoughts nicely. For nicer presentation we are simply using PowerPoint. Everyone has got it and we can take screen shots of existing pages and overlay them with simple drawings using the PPT drawing tools. This has been enough to work through the new design. But thanks for the pointer to ConceptDraw, looks like Visio replacement I've been searching for now that I use a Mac.
- joshwa 19y ago
  >But thanks for the pointer to ConceptDraw, looks like Visio replacement I've been searching for now that I use a Mac. What you really want is OmniGraffle. http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/ http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/

edw519 19y ago

I have been doing this forever. Tried other things, but always came back to this. Not quite sure why. Maybe because I have always "internalized" better when using pen and paper than when typing or mousing. Maybe because my "hardware" is always on and always with me. Lately, I use 4 x 6 index cards wrapped in a rubber band and 3 different color markers. Perfect fit for a standard shirt pocket, right shape for a screen shot, and always ready to serve. It's surprising when (and where) inspiration hits. People in the supermarket or on an airplane think I'm nuts when I drop everything and pull out my "shirt pocket computer". When I tell them that I'm a programmer, they seem to understand.

antirez 19y ago

I do it for every new application, you may think that you can do the same with a computer but it is not true, in the process of drawing the feeling is very different, there is no zoom, it's not trivial to erase, so you are forced to think in more pure terms every line you are going to trace.