Prototyping: Showing It to the Buyer
By Russ Finney
Baseball great Yogi Berra used to have a saying that "you can observe a lot just by watching", and this is especially true when the business clients are given the opportunity to participate in organized screen prototyping sessions. Not only do these sessions provide valuable feedback to the system designers, but they are the first truly critical point where client expectations are set. Since this is universally the case, careful planning, preparation, and execution is in order throughout the process.
The completion of the prototyping sessions should generate an air of excitement and anticipation throughout the company! The business clients have seen the vision, and they should feel they were given the chance to participate and influence the design to meet their needs. Some of the benefits of utilizing a prototyping based design approach are listed below:
Immediate feedback to developers
Reviewing the proposed designs in an interactive demonstration with the business clients, gives the designers valuable insights on how the final products will actually be utilized. In addition, any missing information or functionality becomes much more apparent to everyone.
Higher level of ownership by the business clients
Allowing the business clients to become involved in the design and shaping of the screens (which they will ultimately be living with on a day to day basis), only increases their feeling of control over the project outcome. This ability to participate and influence the final design leads to a genuine ownership of the session results.
Higher overall productivity
By reviewing the screens during design, the chance of early problem detection and oversight increases considerably. This can save costly modification and rewrite time latter. In addition, the functioning prototype can serve as the core baseline for development during construction.
Implementation and training is improved
The business clients have already been exposed to, and are comfortable with, the screen functionality. By the very act of reviewing the screens, the are learning the screens. This can only serve to make it easier to sustain business client involvement in the upcoming phases.
Copyright © 1999, Russ Finney, All Rights Reserved