Paper prototyping

More recently, digital paper prototyping has been advocated by companies like Pidoco due to advantages in terms of collaboration, flexibility, and cost.

In the development team, paper prototypes can serve as a visual specification of the graphical user interface – and by this means, assure the quality of the software.

They help flesh out ideas, encourage experimentation with unconventional designs, and provide rapid feedback on basic usability – but ultimately, paper prototypes would not serve as sufficient products to present to clients.

Another large drawback of paper prototypes is the level of imagination required from test participants in interpreting how to interact with the design.

[4] Users have to imagine what their interactions would look like in a digital space; however, their mental models may not represent how the future state of the interface will actually be implemented.

Further, users are often distracted by the whimsical performance of the facilitator as they move components around, as well as by their own acting to fake interactions, which would also impact the quality of feedback.