Mockup

Mockups are used in the automotive device industry as part of the product development process, where dimensions, overall impression, and shapes are tested in a wind tunnel experiment.

They can also be used for public display and demonstration purposes prior to the development of a prototype, as with the case of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II mock-up aircraft.

Mockups are used in the consumer goods industry as part of the product development process, where dimensions, human factors, overall impression, and commercial art are tested in marketing research.

When designing a functional piece of furniture, such as a desk or table, mockups can be used to test whether they suit typical human shapes and sizes.

This is especially important if the functions that are simulated like this are difficult to obtain (for example because it involves complex computation) or if the result is non-deterministic, such as the readout of a sensor.

Service virtualization and API mocks and simulators are examples of implementations of mockups or so called over-the-wire test doubles in software systems that are modelling dependent components or microservices in SOA environments.

Mockup software can also be used for micro level evaluation, for example to check a single function, and derive results from the tests to enhance the products power and usability on the whole.

In many cases it is best to design or prototype the user interface before source code is written or hardware is built, to avoid having to go back and make expensive changes.