Instead of telling your friends about your great idea, show them. Learn how prototyping advances your design with tips, methodologies, and tools applicable for novices and experts alike. The Power Of Prototypes was first presented at Chicago Ideas Week on Oct. 17th, 2013 by Manifest Digital in Chicago.

1. @ManifestDigital
@chicagoideas

2. “A prototype, regardless of its
fidelity, functionality, or how it is
made, captures the intent of a
design and simulates multiple
states of that design.”
- Todd Zaki Warfel
Prototyping – A Practitioner’s Guide

3. Prototyping allows you to...
• Show, not just describe
• Test multiple concepts
• Respond quickly to feedback
and adapt the design
• Catch mistakes early
Prototyping reduces risk, which ultimately saves
time, effort, and money.

4. 5 Tips for Prototyping

5. 1. Understand the audience and what
you’re trying to achieve.

6. 2. Set expectations – prime the audience.

7. 3. Don’t try to prototype everything,
just build what you need.

8. 4. Prototypes are meant to be disposable
(aka – it’s not a masterpiece).

9. 5. If you can’t make it, fake it.

10. Before you pick a method,
consider:
• The needs of your audience
• What you’re trying to achieve
•
Familiarity with the tool
•
Cost (license fees, as well as time to learn the tool)
•
Whether or not collaboration is important
•
Distribution (to participants, clients, developers, etc)

11. Common Tools Matrix
Experience
Brand/Concept
• Screen
Comps
• Linked
Screen Comps
(inVision, Prototypr)
HTML/CSS
& Javascript
Axure,
Omnigraffle
•
Visual Fidelity
•
InDesign
• DivShot
• Linked
Wireframes
• Visio
•
• Balsamiq
•
POP, paper
prototypes
Concept
Usability
Interactive Fidelity
©
Gail
Swanson
©
Gail
Swanson

12. Meet the Manifest Team
Jason Ulaszek (@webbit)
EVP, Customer Experience
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/webbit
Jason is a crazed evangelist for user experience design, accosting strangers with
sermons on its value in solving business and social problems. He's a leader in the
experience design practice at Manifest Digital, Co-Founder of UX for Good, and
serves as an adjunct faculty member in the HCI Masters program at DePaul
University.
Patrick DiMichele (@theparanoids)
Director, User Experience
Patrick
has
spent
his
career
connec4ng
organiza4ons
and
audiences
by
uncovering
organiza4onal
goals,
priori4es
and
constraints;
by
understanding
customer
desires,
mo4va4ons
and
barriers
to
engagement;
by
cra?ing
solu4ons
that
address
the
needs
and
facilitate
the
key
ac4vi4es
of
both
groups.
He
loves
his
job.
Stacey Harbin (@harbinowitz)
Senior Manager, User Experience
Stacey believes technology should make your life better, not more frustrating. To
that end, she spends an average of 8 hours a day helping companies create
memorable interactions with the outside world. The other 16 hours are spent
keeping up with industry trends, experimenting with new taco permutations, or
defending her furniture from her pit bull puppy, Evelyn.

13. Meet the Manifest Team
Brittany Travitz
(@brittanytravitz)
Senior Manager,
User Experience
Jared Palay
(@jlpalay)
Senior Manager,
User Experience
Zeke Binion
Amy Gurka
(@ebinion)
(@gurkagurka)
Manager,
User Experience
Senior Associate,
Content Strategy
Kate Fitzgibbon
Krystin McDermott
(@kulturshok)
Senior Associate,
User Experience
(LinkedIn)
Recruiting Associate
David Rossman
(LinkedIn)
Ethan Danstrom
Senior Manager,
Visual Design
Senior Manager,
User Experience
(@atimefordesign)

14. References and Resources:
•
Prototyping: A Practitioner’s Guide, Todd Zaki Warfel
•
Axure RP 6 Prototyping Essentials, Ezra Schwartz
•
A Project Guide to UX Design, Russ Unger & Carolyn
Chandler
•
About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Alan
Cooper
•
Designing Interfaces, Jenifer Tidwell