Planning the Fidelity of Your Prototype

January 4, 2007 at 1:06 PM

We're four short days into 2007, and already I found a perspective-altering set of articles about demo fidelity and feedback. First I encountered “Don't Make the Demo Look Done” on Kathy Sierra's ebullient “Creating Passionate Users”. Then over on GUUUI I read “The Dark Side of Prototyping”. It might be known to most web pros, but for me it verbalized the general sense of dread I feel when working in Photoshop. In short, the amount of spit ‘n polish (or smoke ‘n mirrors, or rounded corners, or anti-aliasing) in your prototypes radically changes the type and quality of feedback you collect from people. The solution: plan demos and prototypes that match where you are in the project, and trigger the kind of feedback you need.