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Paper prototyping &
concept testing:
Push beyond your first idea
Amara Hulslander, UX Mentor

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About me
Been a designer for 17
years
Senior User Experience
Designer at Amazon.com
Teacher at University of
Colorado - Denver
Love to travel and run
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Sample of my projects
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Today’s keynote topics
● Understand the purpose of prototyping
● Learn about different levels of prototyping
● What is a paper prototype?
● Learn about the “Crazy 8” method
● See some examples
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What is prototyping?
Why is it important?
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What is a prototype?
● A sample version of your
final product
● A visual tool to
communicate your BIG idea
● Might not be realistic (and
that’s okay)
● It can be low-tech or high-
tech, your choice
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Most products start off as a prototype
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Medicine Electronics Cars

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Concept cars are popular prototypes
Concept cars showcase new
engineering and design and are
meant for assessing customer
interest that helps to decide
whether they can be mass
produced or not.
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Why build a prototype?
● Inexpensive - it is a cheaper way
to express your idea
● Easy - Low effort way to bring
your ideas to life
● Validate - quickly get feedback
and test your ideas
● Aim high - it allows you to quickly
dive into an idea without a lot of
upfront investment
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Different types of
prototyping
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Low fidelity

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Low fidelity
● Pen
● Paper
● People

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Medium fidelity
Low fidelity
● Pen
● Paper
● People

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Medium fidelity
Low fidelity
● Pen
● Paper
● People
● + Camera
● + Computer

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High fidelity
Medium fidelity
Low fidelity
● Pen
● Paper
● People
● + Camera
● + Computer

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High fidelity
Medium fidelity
Low fidelity
● Pen
● Paper
● People
● + Camera
● + Computer
● ++ Design
● ++ Engineering
● ++ Analytics

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Test & adjust Test & adjust
High fidelity
Medium fidelity
Low fidelity

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Example
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The BIG Idea

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Low fidelity
The director J.J.
Abrams drew out his
idea on a napkin…

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Medium fidelity
A company called Sphero had a pre-
existing product…a robotic ball
driven by a smartphone app
Ian Bernstein, CEO/CTO of Sphero ->

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How to get started with
paper prototyping
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We start by drawing
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Pen + paper + timer

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Prototype drawing is simple
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Circles Lines & arrows Boxes for images Buttons & text

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Get started with Crazy 8s
● Fold a piece of paper
into 8 rectangles
● Draw out 1 idea per
minute
● Each idea should be
different
● Finish in 8 minutes!
● Repeat if desired
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Idea 1 Idea 2 Idea 3 Idea 4
Idea 5 Idea 6 Idea 7 Idea 8
Big idea:
Design an app to help
people send and receive
money from family

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Started with the
most obvious…
Introduce
QR code
Ways to
receive
money
How to split
user tasks?
How to show
contacts?
In-app /
In-chat
ideas

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Benefits of Crazy 8s drawing
● Get your ideas on paper
● Visualize what is possible
● Start with BIG ideas
● Push beyond your initial idea
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Start with Crazy 8s
Choose your strongest idea
Dive deep and develop your idea
Create prototype
Share and gather feedback

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In summary…
Keep a growth mindset
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Don’t stop at “I can’t…”
Start with “How can I…?”
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