Kevin Godby

In Carolyn Snyder’s book Paper Protyping: The fast and easy way to design and refine user interfaces, paper prototyping is defined as:

Paper prototyping is a variation of usability testing where representative users perform realistic tasks by interacting with a paper version of the interface that is manipulated by a person “playing computer,” who doesn’t explain how the interface is intended to work.

Paper prototyping provides a fast and cheap way to test many user interactions. It is especially useful in conjunction with an iterative software design process. There are, however, some problems that paper prototyping won’t help you uncover: time delays, scrolling, colors, images, and fonts.

References and Resources

• Kevin’s presentation slides (PDF)
• Kevin’s presentation video (Quicktime movie)
• Paper Prototyping companion site by Carolyn Snyder
• “Paper Prototyping” at A List Apart by Shawn Medero shows some great examples of paper prototyping.