Prototyping with a Grain of Salt.
We know prototyping is a crucial step in the design process that helps us understand whether a design or interface is intuitive to a user, or if it is cumbersome to use. However, I think it is also important to understand that people are imperfect users, you can’t account for taste, and sometimes you should take their feedback with a grain of salt.
In What do Prototypes Prototype? by Stephanie Houde and Charles Hill, one of their case studies involves a role prototype for a new operating system, where the designer used rough sketches to represent interface elements, “ in order to focus design discussion on the overall features of a design rather than on specific details of look and feel or implementation. (Houde and Hill, 7).” However, when they tested this prototype, some users became infatuated with the sketchy style to the extent that in influenced the designers to consider that style for the final product. In my professional work, i have presented websites to clients with placeholder photos which have absolutely nothing to do with the project, and had them be so distracted by the photos that the layout and interface design was completely overlooked.
Some of this can be minimized through design choices and sufficient explanations during the prototyping process. However, there are other times when you need to be selective in the conclusions you draw from your user feedback. Realize that there is no accounting for taste, you can’t always predict user errors because some users are just error-prone, and if you feel like feedback you get is ill-informed or leading your astray, don’t be afraid to trust your gut.
On the other hand, if you notice a trend forming in the feedback your receive, pay attention to it. While one or two users may just be an anomaly, a trend signifies something that you likely need to address. I guess this is where Insights and journey mapping come in, and can help us understand which feedback to value and what to let slide off our backs.
On an unrelated note, I was recently recommended by my thesis chair a book on The Design Sprint, which is a fast paced design and prototyping process that was written by a guy name Jake Knapp from Google Ventures. It seems like something that might be useful, and I was just curious if anyone had tried it, or Alvaro if you think it could be useful for a class like this.
Project Updates
As-Is Journey Map:
Insights:
