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January 28, 2007
Paper Prototyping
Developing programs and web applications can be a difficult process with sometimes questionable results. The people that have the knowledge of the content or the work flow aren't typically the same ones that are doing the programming. What may make sense to a programmer may seem like obfuscation by the end user.
So there's a disconnect that's only getting worse. In the past a power user might have been able to put together a database or web page. A end user creating their own stuff goes through an iterative process, tweaking things until they make sense for the task at hand. With the increased sophistication and technical requirements, higher expertise is often required.
That gets me to paper prototyping. Thoroughly thinking through a project, and effectively communicating user needs to a programmer increases the chances that the goal is reached and the application used. But it's not easy to do. And programmers need to test their ideas on users before spending hours and hours toiling over their computer to create something that no one wants.
Paper prototyping can be done by anyone, technical or not, because it's as low-tech as you can get. Take a piece of paper, some tape and some scissors and start laying out a screen, analyzing functionality, and gathering input from users as to how things should work. Do all this BEFORE the programming begins, and the developers get attached to ideas that don't make sense. For an excellent introduction to the topic, see "Paper Prototyping by Shawn Medero.
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