Rules for the effective creation of a prototype product

This article is primarily useful to those who write TK for programmers, and programmers who have decided to develop a prototype independently.

Many relate to the creation of a visual prototype, the writing of TK, as a kind of creative, sometimes spontaneous process. And in many ways they are right. This article provides useful rules for practice (most of which we know, but often forget to use), the adoption of which will help improve the quality of the result and reduce time costs.

1. Before you draw - write

Before starting to visualize an idea, it is helpful to have a formulated (or better recorded) answer to the question “What functions, what actions should this product / individual screen implement?”. Write them out without structure, in no particular order. Choose target ones, excluding auxiliary ones, and try to link them (separate) with each other in the simplest schematic form. This approach helps to identify the structure and understand exactly what you need to start drawing now.

2. "Let them say," or the importance of feedback

Constant contact with representatives of the target audience (I hope you identified it) helps to move in the right direction. They will prompt what they need and what is not; what they like and what scares. It is better to have the opportunity to live contact to see the full response, rather than its stripped down lexical part. The regularity of collecting feedback increases the chance of "hitting the bull's eye."
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3. Put it off

Make it a habit to take a solid pause while drawing. Distracting and returning to this work with a “fresh look”, you get a chance to quickly find old defects and places that need correction. It’s a well-known fact that the brain is slower when it gets stuck on one thing for a long time, getting covered in a routine. Therefore, distribute any task to several visits. In general, this applies to any process (not only creative).

4. Several options

It will be great if you take it as a rule to create several variants, for example, the same screen, or the implementation of a function. The habit of finding several solutions at once makes you think over each individual block more carefully. In addition, evaluation and selection of several options will give more accurate feedback, because allows respondents (we hope, to representatives of the target audience) to respond more relaxedly - “they praised it, and we can calmly criticize it”.

5. Draw faster

Try to visualize your vision as quickly and easily as possible. Sometimes it is better to draw by hand, or use simple mocap editors (of which there is a lot of publication, for example, here ), spending a couple of minutes. Remember that this screen you will probably need to improve a few more times. Pick up the color in Photoshop and place a beautiful font with a shadow smarter in the last stages of rendering.

And remember, creating logic and product design is an endless process. Sustainable products are improving and evolving, and this will always require our time and effort.