Digital prototypes are an extra step in the digital product design process that helps improve and deliver the design quicker.
It creates an opportunity to receive more feedback early instead of waiting for the design to be finalized by the designer first. This way, you can get involved in your product's design process and ensure that the design targets your audience’s needs and wants.
Digital prototypes are used to test and improve the design so the product can be launched faster, saving you money and effort to re-do mistakes later on. But, what are they exactly?
In this article
What is a Digital Prototype?
A digital prototype of a product is like a draft version of the app or website’s design for designers and business founders to improve before the final launch.
For example, if you create a new landing page for your website and want to see how it’ll look without making it open to the public, you would first test the digital prototype.
This draft lets you see how the digital product looks, how it functions, and if there are any gaps or issues in the design. You can easily make revisions and improvements on a digital prototype without affecting real users.
It helps bridge the gap between the idea and the final product, making sure that the design is effective, and aligns with the business goals. Once you’re satisfied with the UX and UI, the product design is ready to be developed and made live.
What is Digital Product Design About?
The goals of a digital product design are to be functional, attractive, intuitive, and provide an enjoyable experience.
That is why if you keep hearing about ‘adaptable design’ it is the biggest trend because users expect a hassle-free experience no matter what device they use to navigate the digital product.
Learn more in our detailed guide to digital product design and development.
Tips on How to Use a Digital Prototype
- Digital prototypes let you quickly visualize and test new ideas to instantly evaluate their usability.
- Using a digital prototype, you can find potential problems to resolve early and prevent costly mistakes or redesigns.
- A digital prototype can be used to gather early feedback from future users, which can make the digital product design more user-centric.
- You can show the digital prototype of your product to different departments within your company for a more diverse perspective of the design goals. This can help align expectations and clarify the company’s vision.
- A digital prototype can test market validation. It can be done using focus groups or beta testers to assess the market demand.
The sooner you perfect the digital product design, the shorter the time to market will be and the faster you can respond to market needs.
6 Reasons You Need a Digital Prototype
- Digital prototypes let you quickly visualize and test new ideas to instantly evaluate their usability.
- Using a digital prototype, you can find potential problems to resolve early and prevent costly mistakes or redesigns.
- A digital prototype can be used to gather early feedback from future users, which can make the digital product design more user-centric.
- You can show the digital prototype of your product to different departments within your company for a more diverse perspective of the design goals. This can help align expectations and clarify the company’s vision.
- Another thing a digital prototype can test is market validation. It can be done using focus groups or beta testers to assess the market demand.
- The sooner you perfect the digital product design, the shorter the time to market will be and the faster you can respond to market needs.
Flexy’s Steps to Create a Digital Prototype
The digital product design process doesn’t start with the prototypes, it starts with a kick-off meeting with the founders to understand the project objectives. Next, we gather information about the company’s goals and target user needs, which is used to create design mood boards for the future prototype.
Only once the digital product design system is confirmed do we move on to the digital prototype.
Wireframes
Our designers start building digital prototypes using low-fidelity (not detailed) wireframes, which is a basic outline of the static product layout.
User Interface
When the digital product wireframe is adjusted and approved by our client, we start designing a high-fidelity (detailed) prototype, which has a more colorful and engaging design. The UI prototype is the first draft of the final product.
Function
To improve the product design’s usability, Flexy designers add interactive elements (e.g. navigation buttons), transitions, animations, or other design elements that will simulate the user experience (UX).
Testing
After designing the MVP prototype, it is time to test it with the client’s team or beta users and keep iterating design revisions.
Development
As soon as the digital prototype is approved, we deliver the design documentation to our client or hand it over to our development team for zero-coding Webflow product building.
In the end, prototyping is an iterative process, so, it's not uncommon to go back a few steps, make adjustments, and then move forward again. The goal is to continuously refine the product until it meets user needs and business objectives.
Digital prototypes are a smart way to test ideas, see what works and what doesn't, and make changes before spending time and money on the final product. Hiring a design agency to help with this can save a lot of time and hassle because they have the expertise and tools to create effective prototypes
