A prototype is a draft version of a product to allow you to explore your ideas and show the intention behind the overall design concept or feature to users before time and money is invested into development.. It is often advisable to make a prototype when you have a great new idea but not always necessary. What do you want to achieve? This will help determine what type of prototype you should build.
There are four reasons to build a prototype. These include explaining your idea, selling your idea, gathering feedback and testing the logic behind the idea.
Explaining your idea is not always easy and can be complicated. When you want to communicate your ideas sometimes sketches and 3d mockups are more effective. When others are able to visualize your idea it can help them understand what you mean and it can also help others build upon your idea. Paper prototypes, storyboards, application screens, and 3d mockups are techniques you can use for this purpose.
Prototypes are also designed to help sell your idea and create more interest during a presentation. You can use this type of prototype to sell your idea to a manager, customer or investor. Digital prototypes, videos or animations are techniques you can use for this purpose.
Prototypes are also a great tool for gathering feedback and testing out your assumptions. In order to reduce your risk, it’s better to fail early on the process. You should bring your prototype to your target audience as quickly as possible to determine what the outcome might be. A technique used for this purpose could be a click dummy.
Prototypes help you refine your concept and design the system. These prototypes help fine tune the backend and focus mainly on the operation. Techniques used for this purpose are wireframes, customer journey mapping, and process flowcharts.
An attorney can help you decide if a prototype is needed for your idea but it is often advantageous to you to prototype your idea because a prototype will help you reduce time and cost, improve and increase user involvement, and help with quality assurance and innovation.