Utilizing prototypes this way, is a missed shot. A missed shot to create an outcome that solves a real problem for customers. An outcome that is worthwhile. Prototypes are a great tool to discover what people need, what they dream of, what their goals are, and what frustrates them — to name a few things. It is a tool to define, test and learn from opportunities and ideas, and eventually get to the right solution. So, if prototypes are particularly valuable when the solution isn’t set in stone yet, then why do many design teams only start prototyping once they already decided on the solution?

以這種方式使用原型是一個失敗的嘗試。 錯失良機，無法為客戶解決實際問題。 值得的結果。 原型是發現人們的需求，夢想，目標是什么以及使他們沮喪的好工具-僅舉幾例。 它是一種定義，測試并從機遇和思想中學習并最終找到正確解決方案的工具。 因此，如果在解決方案還沒有定型的情況下原型特別有價值，那么為什么許多設計團隊在決定解決方案后才開始進行原型設計？

原型超出您的想象 (A prototype is more than you think)

When talking about prototypes, the industry mostly refers to a representation of a final product or feature that a team is working on. This definition is limited. A prototype is much more. A prototype is anything tangible that enables you to get feedback on an aspect of the solution that you are working on. It is a tool that helps you learn. Which means is doesn’t have to be a smooth clickable demo in Invision. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t even have to be a representation of the final product. It might as well be a storyboard, video or even a competitor’s website.

在談論原型時，行業主要是指團隊正在研究的最終產品或功能的表示。 此定義是有限的。 原型遠遠不止這些。 原型是任何有形的東西 ，使您能夠獲得有關正在解決的解決方案方面的反饋。 它是可以幫助您學習的工具。 這意味著在Invision中不必是一個可平滑單擊的演示。 事實上，它甚至不必代表最終產品。 它也可能是故事板，視頻，甚至是競爭對手的網站。

原型制作使設計過程更輕松，產品更好 (Prototyping makes the design process easier and products better)

If you only start prototyping after you set the solution in stone, you miss a hell of a lot opportunities to discover the value of different ideas early on. You miss the chance to have customers inspire you. Prototyping earlier could have prevented you from investing time and money in that one feature that didn’t catch on after is was already built… Let’s make the value of prototyping more concrete:

如果您在確定解決方案后才開始制作原型，那么您會錯失很多機會，盡早發現不同創意的價值。 您會錯過讓客戶激勵您的機會。 較早的原型制作可能會阻止您浪費時間和金錢，因為已經建立了一個不流行的功能……讓我們更加詳細地說明原型制作的價值：

• Prototyping avoids misunderstandingImagine: you’re working on a new concept with your team. You’ve had countless meetings on the strategy. Endless discussions about key features, interactions, and essential flows. After hours you leave the stuffy meeting room believing that everybody’s on the same page. A few weeks later, the opposite turns out to be true — chances are you can relate to this scenario. People’s associations are influenced by their own context and previous experience. In other words: talking without making things concrete, always leads to different interpretations of the same concept. Making a visual representations (a prototype) of what you talk about right away, tackles this issue. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It is about having a shared truth. Leaving the room with an abstract but tangible backbone of the discussion, ensures everyone moves in the same direction.

  原型設計避免了誤解想象一下：您正在與團隊一起研究一個新概念。 您參加過無數次有關該戰略的會議。 關于關鍵功能，交互作用和基本流程的無休止的討論。 下班后，您離開悶熱的會議室，相信每個人都在同一頁面上。 幾周后，事實恰恰相反—您可能會遇到這種情況。 人民協會受其自身背景和以前經驗的影響。 換句話說：不把事情具體化而說話，總是會導致對同一概念的不同解釋。 立即用視覺表示(原型)解決您的問題。 不一定要漂亮。 這是關于擁有共同的真理。 離開會議室時，要有一個抽象但切實的討論主干，以確保每個人都朝著同一方向前進。

• Prototyping helps to make decisionsWordy conversations and discussions often lead to procrastination of decisions. It is easy to flip this: enter a meeting with the goal to make something concrete. This helps keep the meeting focussed and effective. Making decisions fast, prevents designers from finding themselves staring at an empty artboard due to insecurity and lack of direction. Leaving too many options open for too long, means time gets lost. And that’s a waste. Especially when you realize that you can only find the right solution by experimenting. So you better start somewhere. Today. Make decisions, make things tangible and discover whether or not it was the right call.

  原型設計有助于做出決策冗長的對話和討論通常會拖延決策的制定。 翻轉這一點很容易：進入會議，以制定具體目標為目標。 這有助于保持會議的重點和有效性。 快速做出決策，可防止設計師由于不安全和缺乏方向而發現自己盯著空的畫板。 太多的選項打開太長時間意味著浪費時間。 那是浪費。 尤其是當您意識到只能通過實驗找到正確的解決方案時。 所以你最好從某個地方開始。 今天。 做出決定，使事情切實可行，并發現是否合適。

• Prototyping creates a culture of curiosityA prototype allows you to perform short experiments and learn about business context, your customers, and the feasibility of ideas early on. By using prototypes in an early stage, you change the team’s mindset. The stubborn focus on the final product shifts towards a focus on learning, validating assumptions and discovering the real problem that customers experience.

  原型創建了一種好奇心文化。原型使您可以進行簡短的實驗，并盡早了解業務背景，客戶和想法的可行性。 通過在早期使用原型，您可以改變團隊的思維方式。 對最終產品的固執關注逐漸轉向對學習，驗證假設并發現客戶遇到的實際問題的關注。

• Prototypes help you get better insightsPrototypes are a handy tool for all sorts of research. Designing prototypes for concept- or usability tests is an obvious choice. But they add a lot of value to more explorative forms of research as well. For instance, you could perfectly enrich in-depth interviews or focus groups by working with products of competitors, have participants prioritize a collection of features, or have them react to sketches of concepts. This allows you to learn about the relation between solutions and needs of your target audience in an early stage.

  原型可幫助您獲得更好的見解原型是進行各種研究的便捷工具。 為概念或可用性測試設計原型是顯而易見的選擇。 但是它們也為更具探索性的研究形式增加了很多價值。 例如，您可以與競爭對手的產品一起工作，讓參與者優先考慮一系列功能，或者讓他們對概念草圖做出React，從而完全豐富深度訪談或焦點小組。 這使您可以及早了解目標客戶的解決方案與需求之間的關系。

原型有許多不同的形狀和大小 (Prototypes come in many different shapes and sizes)

There are levels to prototyping. Plenty of levels. So once you have decided to prototype more often, a new challenge will surface: creating the right kind of prototype at the right time. This starts with a clear goal and a specified target audience. From there, you decide on the form and the amount of detail you want to give the prototype.

有一些原型制作層次。 很多級別。 因此，一旦您決定更頻繁地進行原型設計，就會出現一個新的挑戰：在正確的時間創建正確的原型。 首先要有明確的目標和指定的目標受眾。 在這里，您可以決定要提供原型的形式和詳細程度。

• Set an objectiveIn broad lines, a prototype is a tool to learn about the needs and desires of your target audience (desirability), convince stakeholders of the economical value (viability), or to make an estimation of the technical possibilities (feasibility). Three different goals with each their own set of requirements for your prototype.

  設定目標概括而言，原型是一種工具，用于了解目標受眾的需求和期望(可取性)，說服利益相關者經濟價值(可行性)或估算技術可能性(可行性)。 三個不同的目標，每個目標都有自己的原型要求。

• Define your audienceThe user of the prototype is not always the end-user of the product. Depending on the objectives, the users could also be business stakeholders or technical agents. This influences your prototype heavily. Different target groups come with different requirements. To give you an example: the end-user would probably not be able to imagine your concept and give feedback based on a flow chart, while your technical stakeholder is perfectly able to. In turn, technical stakeholders can’t really estimate which database connections are needed based on a slick promo video. And that promo video? That might be very valuable to get input from your end-users.

  定義您的聽眾原型的用戶并不總是產品的最終用戶。 根據目標，用戶也可以是業務涉眾或技術代理。 這會嚴重影響您的原型。 不同的目標群體有不同的要求。 舉一個例子：最終用戶可能無法想象您的概念并無法根據流程圖給出反饋，而您的技術利益相關者則完全可以。 反過來，技術利益相關者無法根據精美的促銷視頻真正估算出需要哪些數據庫連接。 那宣傳視頻？ 這對于從最終用戶那里獲得輸入可能非常有價值。

• Minimal effort, maximum resultWith the objective and target group defined, you are ready to decide on what to make and, more importantly, what not to make. Now it is up to you to create a prototype that answers to your goals, and at the same time, costs you the least effort to make. Is it really needed to design the entire feature, or would a landing page suffice? Is it necessary to design every page pixel perfect or are the three most important pages enough? A prototype has to offer you a platform to get the right insights. Nothings less, but especially: nothing more.

  最小的努力，最大的結果定義了目標和目標組之后，您就可以決定要做什么，更重要的是，不要做什么。 現在，您可以創建一個可以滿足您目標的原型，同時花費最少的精力。 設計整個功能真的需要嗎，還是登錄頁面就足夠了？ 是否有必要設計每個頁面像素的完美像素還是三個最重要的頁面足夠？ 原型必須為您提供一個平臺，以獲取正確的見解。 沒什么，但尤其是：僅此而已。

• Don’t blindly go with your favourite design toolLet go of your favourite software. Start off with a marker and a piece of paper and decide — based on your plan — which software is most suitable. Don’t use complex design tools when simple tool like Keynote offer enough functionality. This way you prevent yourself from the temptation to work on unnecessary details for the simple reason that your tool offers you the possibility. It also works the other way around: by picking your tools carefully, you prevent yourself from being limited by your own skills and software.

  不要盲目使用您喜歡的設計工具放開您喜歡的軟件。 首先用記號筆和一張紙開始，然后根據您的計劃確定最合適的軟件。 當像Keynote這樣的簡單工具提供足夠的功能時，請不要使用復雜的設計工具。 這樣，您就可以避免由于自己的工具為您提供了可能的原因而誘惑自己去處理不必要的細節。 它也可以以其他方式起作用：通過仔細選擇工具，可以防止自己因自己的技能和軟件而受到限制。

• Dare to let go of your own product and assetsThe best prototype is not always the prototype that perfectly reflects the status and possibilities of your final product. Especially when you design new features, a new concept or a visual redesign, you save a lot of time by not integrating it directly into the real product (with high fidelity assets). Prove the value first. Your prototype can be one screen you designed yourself combined with interactions of competitor’s websites. Not working towards your final product directly comes with a huge advantage: it makes it easier to let go of your darlings when moving in the wrong direction.

  敢于放棄自己的產品和資產最好的原型并不總是能完美反映最終產品的狀態和可能性的原型。 尤其是在設計新功能，新概念或視覺重新設計時， 無需將其直接集成到具有高保真度的真實產品中，從而節省了大量時間。 首先證明價值。 您的原型可以是您自己設計的一個屏幕，可以與競爭對手的網站進行交互。 不直接為最終產品工作會帶來巨大的優勢：當朝錯誤的方向移動時，放寬親愛的對象變得更容易。

完美的陷阱 (The pitfall of perfection)

You set your goals, you know to whom you want to show the prototype, and you decided on the shape and size. The finish line is in sight and to only thing you have to do is speed up. However, on your way to finish line there is one last pitfall: the pitfall of perfection. We’re designers ourselves, so we know how tempting it is to make a slick visual design. But keep in mind: by spicing up your design with details that aren’t essential for the learning experience, you can actually thwart your own goals. Let us give you two examples:

您設定目標，知道要向誰展示原型，然后決定形狀和大小。 終點線就在眼前，您唯一要做的就是加快速度。 但是，在完成終點的過程中，最后一個陷阱是：完美的陷阱。 我們自己是設計師，所以我們知道制作光滑的視覺設計是多么誘人。 但請記住：通過為學習體驗提供非必需的細節來豐富您的設計，您實際上可以挫敗自己的目標。 讓我們舉兩個例子：

• If you want to learn about flow and functionality, it’s unwise to create a pixel perfect visual design. For the simple reason that a smooth visual design triggers reaction on details and distracts from the bigger picture.
  如果您想了解流程和功能，那么創建像素完美的視覺設計是不明智的。 出于簡單的原因，平滑的視覺設計會觸發對細節的React并分散大圖的注意力。
• Conveying a new visual style by bringing it to life in a detailed web page, leads to discussion on functionality. It won’t be about look and feel anymore, but rather about content and features.
  通過在詳細的網頁中實現新的視覺風格來傳達新的視覺風格，從而引發了對功能的討論。 它不再與外觀有關，而與內容和功能有關。

Perfection is time-consuming and, in many cases, it keeps you from getting the insights you need to move forward and make the right decisions. Our advice? Spend your valuable time on doing another research iteration, instead of creating a perfect picture. Understanding the world of your customers and stakeholders thoroughly allows you to build great solutions that make a difference, not just pretty pictures.

完善是一項耗時的工作，在很多情況下，它使您無法獲得前進和做出正確決策所需的見解。 我們的建議？ 將寶貴的時間花在進行另一次研究迭代上，而不是創建完美的圖片。 透徹了解客戶和利益相關者的世界，可以使您構建出色的解決方案，而不僅僅是改變圖片。

Feel free to reach out if you want to share your ideas or need a little help to get the best out of your prototypes. Do you want to read on? Go and check out more articles right here.

隨意 伸手 ，如果你想分享你的想法或需要一點幫助，讓您的原型的最好的了。 你想繼續讀嗎？ 去 這里 查看更多文章 。