What is it good for?
- Working out how to test with your users
- Getting feedback on your ideas
- Making a decision whether to continue with your idea
When to use it
Get the tool
How to use it
A prototype is a tool for bringing ideas to life and testing them with users. It helps you avoid wasting time, money, and energy on building things that don't work. It also prevents you from getting too attached to ideas—which often happens when you've invested heavily in one solution.
Prototypes can take many forms. They might be as simple as a paper drawing of a website's front page or a series of linked webpage sketches (called a wireframe). They can also be more functional and designed. Modern no-code tools like Glide or Landbot make this process easier than ever.
You can even save time by using an existing service or product as your prototype for user testing.
Whenever you’re testing with users, it’s important to consider safety and safeguarding of the people you’re testing with. The DigiSafe safeguarding resource from CAST and AVA is a helpful source of best practice gathered from third sector organisations.
Above you'll find a Prototyping Worksheet with all of the steps you need to get started with your testing. Simply make a copy of the worksheet, and you're ready to go.
How to prototype 1. Decide what to prototype
- Decide on the idea/s you need to test.
- Make a list of your riskiest assumptions about your ideas. Look at your Knowledge Board again. Which assumptions need to be accurate for the solution to work? What are the most critical criteria for success? What is the purpose of testing each prototype?
- Break down each solution into its different elements or component parts.
- Fill in the hypotheses template in the worksheet (See 'Get the Tool' section below)
- Keep each prototype simple. The most common mistake is to go too large and try to test the whole solution in one go. Instead:
- Test one element of each solution at a time
- Ask only one question at a time - each test will provide data that will add to your bigger picture
- Check what already exists. It will inspire you and could reveal an existing service you could test, or show you don’t need to develop something at all
2. Start making
- Create multiple variations of each prototype. This way you can iterate more quickly by swapping them around as you test. This will generate more feedback.
- Keep it simple and basic to start with. If a prototype looks rough and ready rather than polished you’ll get more honest feedback. Because people prefer not to criticise things that look like they’ve had a lot of effort put into them.
3. Test
- Use the worksheet to help plan your testing (See 'Get the Tool' section below)
- Put your prototypes in front of your users and watch how they interact with them.
- Use a combination of observation, conversation and questions to gather feedback.
- Make sure your users understand you are interested in their honest opinion, to help you design something that is useful to them.
- Test multiple versions of prototypes alongside one another. This encourages conversation and comparison and leads to more useful feedback.
4. Synthesise, iterate and repeat
- Synthesise your learning
- Create some quick iterations
- Test again
- Repeat
Further reading on prototyping
- A Shared Digital Guide on using a no/low code tool to monitor project activity and impact
- A Shared Digital Guide on ‘Helping people prepare to use a service using a website CMS’, including prototyping examples
- A blog on ‘Solving Problems with No-Code’