Early prototyping mobile apps
What is a prototype?
A set of sketches on pieces of paper, Photoshop "screenshots", HTML screens, "animated" javascript, a working layout?
And now with the amendment: a prototype application for the phone. Is it enough to evaluate the interfaces of a mobile application by looking at a desktop screen or paper charts?
I guess not. I think the prototype installed on the device that allows you to see all parts of the future UI “in action” is not a luxury, but one of the most responsible and necessary stages of development. What are its advantages and how much resources will have to be spent on it? I must say right away that this will not be about games.
Naturally, such a prototype has a limitation on the set of UI elements, and the computational functionality is almost or completely absent.
It seems that such a prototype should be created by the UI designer. He should not program, but should offer a "working application." To do this, he needs something more than Photoshop. He needs a workplace in the development environment. And today, more and more development environments offer him such a nest!
For discussion, I would highlight 2 questions:
Let's move on to the issue price. Will this stage draw half the project budget and 3 months of work, or can everything be implemented faster and cheaper?
They say that paper prototypes should be drawn in 1-2 days, quickly discussed and amended, and then thrown away. Are we ready to evaluate the benefits of a working prototype in an additional week and a half of work? Or maybe it can also be done in 1-2 days, if you get the hang of it?
Here is a short list of tools whose creators are clearly concerned about creating a designer’s workplace in their environment. I hope you complete the list and emphasize the importance of representatives.
You can start with the anathematized Jobs flush.
Adobe, by its widest front, has attracted designers to create something that programmers have always dealt with. And in the latest versions of its products, the company demonstrates its desire to organize a full-fledged workplace in the development environment for the UI designer.
What did the kit always boast of? "Native cross-platform." However, now they also boast of a new tool for application designers! And the presentations focus on visual effects that designers peck at, like crows on glass.
What does the ubiquitous M $ offer? In addition to unambiguously promoting SilverLight as a basic tool for developing business applications, she rolled out a cool prototyping tool. In the templates “out of the box” there are even ready-made sets of fake data. In the application, you just need to set parameters, such as “40 elements, each consists of a picture, title and text” and in the emulator / device you will immediately receive a “ready-made online store”, “contact list” or “news feed” - whoever likes it!
It is safe to say that a UI designer will need a few days rather than a few weeks to create a user interface using a specialized tool in a development environment. The most attractive thing is that the developer can then “fill” this “shell” and the prototype will not fly into the basket, like its paper counterpart.
For example, Apple, promoting the concept of Model-View-Controller, just hints, in my opinion, about the distribution of responsibilities in the project: the data structure - to the architect, management - to the developer, display - to the UI designer.
What do you think about working prototypes in the initial stages of the project?
A set of sketches on pieces of paper, Photoshop "screenshots", HTML screens, "animated" javascript, a working layout?
And now with the amendment: a prototype application for the phone. Is it enough to evaluate the interfaces of a mobile application by looking at a desktop screen or paper charts?
I guess not. I think the prototype installed on the device that allows you to see all parts of the future UI “in action” is not a luxury, but one of the most responsible and necessary stages of development. What are its advantages and how much resources will have to be spent on it? I must say right away that this will not be about games.
What are you talking about?
It will be about mockup - a working prototype that contains the main / all parts of the application, controls that display content (fake data), etc. and that allows you to navigate / solve user tasks.Naturally, such a prototype has a limitation on the set of UI elements, and the computational functionality is almost or completely absent.
It seems that such a prototype should be created by the UI designer. He should not program, but should offer a "working application." To do this, he needs something more than Photoshop. He needs a workplace in the development environment. And today, more and more development environments offer him such a nest!
For discussion, I would highlight 2 questions:
- Does a working prototype have advantages over a schematic representation and how big are they?
- How many and whose labor will it take to create and work with such a prototype?
Advantages of the prototype mobile application.
We will build on a set of screens in the form of sketches or elaborated “screenshots” or a hefty state diagram, as from “classical prototyping schemes”. So, the advantages:- A clear way to work with the interface in its "native" four-inch, for example, form. Type, "small screen, thick fingers."
- Evaluation of usability, ergonomics of the application, real navigation on it
during the testing of user scenarios. - The ability to connect a wide range of people in the project to the discussion, and not just “with imagination”.
- The possibility of a fairly detailed implementation of all application blocks or even the entire UI in all details.
- Bringing the prototype to the "final product" through the use of graphic design.
Let's move on to the issue price. Will this stage draw half the project budget and 3 months of work, or can everything be implemented faster and cheaper?
They say that paper prototypes should be drawn in 1-2 days, quickly discussed and amended, and then thrown away. Are we ready to evaluate the benefits of a working prototype in an additional week and a half of work? Or maybe it can also be done in 1-2 days, if you get the hang of it?
IDE developers think of UI designers!
Here is a short list of tools whose creators are clearly concerned about creating a designer’s workplace in their environment. I hope you complete the list and emphasize the importance of representatives.
You can start with the anathematized Jobs flush.
UI Designer Tools
Flash catalyst
Adobe, by its widest front, has attracted designers to create something that programmers have always dealt with. And in the latest versions of its products, the company demonstrates its desire to organize a full-fledged workplace in the development environment for the UI designer.
QT quick.
What did the kit always boast of? "Native cross-platform." However, now they also boast of a new tool for application designers! And the presentations focus on visual effects that designers peck at, like crows on glass.
Expression Blend for Windows Phone 7.
What does the ubiquitous M $ offer? In addition to unambiguously promoting SilverLight as a basic tool for developing business applications, she rolled out a cool prototyping tool. In the templates “out of the box” there are even ready-made sets of fake data. In the application, you just need to set parameters, such as “40 elements, each consists of a picture, title and text” and in the emulator / device you will immediately receive a “ready-made online store”, “contact list” or “news feed” - whoever likes it!
The results.
It is safe to say that a UI designer will need a few days rather than a few weeks to create a user interface using a specialized tool in a development environment. The most attractive thing is that the developer can then “fill” this “shell” and the prototype will not fly into the basket, like its paper counterpart.
For example, Apple, promoting the concept of Model-View-Controller, just hints, in my opinion, about the distribution of responsibilities in the project: the data structure - to the architect, management - to the developer, display - to the UI designer.
What do you think about working prototypes in the initial stages of the project?