Prototyping for Tiny Fingers

“Prototyping for Tiny Fingers” | Summary and Analysis

“Prototyping for Tiny Fingers” by Marc Rettig explains the drawbacks of high-fi prototyping versus the benefits of low-fi prototyping, and how to create, prepare, and evaluate for user testing that employs low-fi prototypes. Rettig explains that high-fi prototyping has several pitfalls that can disrupt the design and testing process and lead to an application that is designed poorly or does not function properly. The main disadvantages of high-fi prototyping are that users tend to focus on “fit and finish” versus more important design issues during testing, that errors in functionality can stop testing altogether, and that changing design issues on a polished prototype is problematic and time consuming. Thus, Rettig proposes using low-fi prototypes because they can be easily changed and formatted, even during a testing session, and they aid users by shifting their focus towards the interactions and information architecture of a prototype, rather than minor design choices, such as color scheme or font choice. Low-fi prototypes are essential in the beginning stages of design because they force designers to focus on “usability and formative evaluation” to better understand the users’ needs and to make informed design choices that can be improved in upcoming iterations. Creating an effective low fidelity prototype is central to the design process and Rettig states that designers must be able to gather the appropriate tools for your design, create models of interfaces that can be easily manipulated and replaced during testing, and set deadlines so that designers do not stress about a certain design aspect for too long. Rettig also states that preparing properly for usability testing is very important because, as designers, you need to understand how to participate in every role of testing and fully comprehend the testing process to gather meaningful data that will be beneficial when implemented in future prototypes. To test effectively, designers need to understand the user types to gather participants that closely model their perspective users for their product, choose specific task scenarios for testing that are user focused, and practice the testing scenario so the entire team can successfully conduct a test and minimize errors. If designers can effectively implement these practices in their low-fidelity prototyping and testing, they will be able to gather valuable information regarding design changes for their next iteration. Rettig emphasis on the use of low-fidelity prototypes development efficiently demonstrates its importance and practicality as a design tool in the early stages of the design process and Thomas Erickson also shares several of the same ideas and practices.

Rettig, M. (1994). Prototyping for Tiny Fingers. Communications of the ACM,37(4), 21-27.