How Prototyping Helps You Design a Better Product

How Prototyping Helps You
Design A Better Product
Featuring Sarah Doody & Kuldeep Kelkar

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Meet the Speakers
Sarah Doody
User Experience Designer and Product Strategist
Kuldeep Kelkar
VP, Research Services
UserZoom
@sarahdoody
sarah@sarahdoody.com

HERE’S WHAT WE’LL COVER
• Why we must prototype
• The prototyping process
• Tips to prototype fast & furiously
• Q&A (so think about questions!!)

Why We Must Prototype
PART 1
Sarah Doody | How Prototyping Helps You Design A Better Product

FAKE IT UNTIL
YOU MAKE IT

B
But far too often, teams
just MAKE IT

THE MOTIVATION TO MAKE
SELL
SOMETHING
ATTRACT
INVESTOR
S
RECRUIT
NEW
TALENT
BE THE FIRST
TO MARKET
FEELING OF
PROGRESS

Do not get trapped doing
activities that provide a
false sense of progress.

Product Development Timeline
• Expensive
• Time consuming
• Hard to turn back
• Lots of uncertainty
• Risk
• High cost to change
• Emotionally invested
• Finish line in sight
• Ego
let’s make itidea

If you make it too soon
you’ll have to fake it
later.

• No clear use case; no “sticky” moment
• Too many features lead to confused users
• Slow growth … or no growth
• Extra marketing effort to explain the product
• Expensive & exhausting
• Doesn’t end well!
RISKS OF BUILDING TOO FAST

SIGNS YOU BUILT TOO FAST
PRODUCT
• Scope creep
• Extended timeline
• Over budget
• Scope reduction
TEAM
• Chasing tasks
• Burn out
• Declining passion
• Growing frustration
USERS
• Confusing ux
• Slow adoption
• No adoption
• No word of mouth

• Faking it allows you to avoid a lot of risk to your product,
team, and users
• If you make it too soon, you’ll have a lot of explaining to do
later
• Don’t fall into the trap of doing things that provide a false
sense of progress
• Real progress is about smart validation, not volume of output
RECAP

The PrototypingProcess
PART 2

Ever feel like
you’re playing a
game of
telephone?

Too often, teams focus on
execution before defining
and testing a product
opportunity or value
proposition.

It doesn’t matter how good your
(engineering) team is if they are not
given something worthwhile to
build.
Marty Cagan
Inspired: How To Create Products Customers
Love

THE PROTOTYPING PROCESS
RESEARCH
Get to know potential
users. Identify their pain
points. Dig deep and
find the problems they
can’t even see.
SYNTHESIZE
Map the user’s journey.
Show how they go from
problem to solution. Use
the map to keep your team
in sync.
CREATE
Make the prototype.
Consider the audience and
what level of fidelity is
necessary for the
prototype.
TEST & TELL
Put it to test. Take it
back to the people
you talked to and
test, test test. Share
your insights and
iterate.

RESEARCH
Goal
Understand the pain-points of the people who you are building the
product for. Know how they are currently solving this problem.
Methods & Tips
•One on one conversations
•Round-table discussions
•Articles & blogs
•Search social media like crazy
● Do it in person so they can tell & show you how
they
solve the problem right now
● Record conversations, take pictures, collect artifacts
where possible.
● If already in market, talk to key internal stakeholders

SYNTHESIZE
Goal
Create a map of the new journey the user should have and how
the product will fit into that journey.
Methods & Tips
● Storyboarding
● Do not start with screens
● A sketch is an aid for communication,
not an art project.
● Do not start with screens, focus on the user’s
journey
● Then, identify where screens fit into the
journey

The full
storyboard
shows the end
to end journey
from problem
to solution.

Based on the
storyboard,
the user-flow
adds more
detail around
key screens &
actions in the
app.

CREATE
Goal
Develop a prototype that can be used to test the key problem you
set out to solve for the user.
Methods & Tips
● Consider the context
● Understand the audience
● Identify its end usage
● Establish the fidelity of the design
● List a set of features & stick to it.
● Agree on number of screens and key tasks it
should represent
● Use real content where possible
● Choose your prototyping tool wisely & make
it work for you

Carrier
Jack Danielle Add new
Which child is missing?
Carrier
We've sent a KinPoint alert to park guests
and employees to let them know Jack is
missing.
What's Next
1. Stay where you are incase Jack finds his
way back to you.
2. A Disney rep is on their way to your
Improve Jack's alert page by adding photos
and details:
Add photos Edit details
Cancel Alert
Carrier
Kinpoint Missing Child Alert
Jack, a 5 year old boy, has been reported
missing at Disney. Last seen at Rainforest
Cafe in Downtown Disney. Jack has blonde
hair and blue eyes.
Close View details
Carrier
Jack
Last seen in Downtown Disney at the
Rainforest Cafe, less than 500 feet from
you.
Report Jack As Found
Carrier
We've let Jack's parents know your location.
It's important that you stay where you are
until Jack's parents reach you.
Help everyone feel at ease.
Call or FaceTime Jack's parents so he can
let them know he's ok.
Call
FaceTime
Carrier
We've sent a KinPoint alert to park guests
and employees to let them know Jack is
missing.
What's Next
1. Stay where you are incase Jack finds his
way back to you.
1. A Disney rep is on their way to your
location to offer support and answer any
questions.
1. Turn the volume up on your phone so you
don't miss the notification when Jack is
found.
KinPoint Alert
Someone reported they've found Jack!
To view their location and make contact
with them view the
Close View details
Carrier
Confirm Jack as reunited
Someone's reported they found Jack!
You should make your way to Jack and the
person who found him. Here is Jack's location:
Call FaceTime
Call or FaceTime the person who has Jack to
make contact and put Jack at ease.
Carrier
Kinpoint Missing Child Update
The alert for missing child Jack has been
cancelled. His parents have confirmed that
they have been reunited with him.
Thanks for your help!
Dismiss
Report missing Next steps
Alert to park goers Alert details Found, next steps
Found alert to parents Found details
Found alert to park goers

Reporting a missing
child
Missing child alert is
triggered with just one
tap.
1
1
On confirmation screen,
parents can add more
information such as
photos, last location, and
details about the child.
Park goers & employees
are alerted via push
notification. Possibly
consider text messages as
well.
2
3
The Browns have just
realized Jack is missing!!

Alerting park goers of missing
child
Photos tab Details tab
Jack is likely on foot & can’t travel far. Therefore location is
extremely important.
The goal of the alert detail screen is to give people a photo of Jack
and context between Jack’s location and their location in the park.
Addition photos and details are accessible from tabs below the map.
Kelly is at Disney and receives a KinPoint alert

Report a child as found
When the finder reports
child as found, a
confirmation screen
provides further
information and options to
call or Facetime the
child’s parents.
The detail screen for
parents shows a map to
the child’s location with
options to call or Facetime.
1
Parents are alerted by a
push notification. Also
consider text
messaging.
2
3
4
When parents confirm
child as found, an alert
goes out canceling the
missing child notice.

TEST & TELL
Goal
Put the prototype to test. See if it solves the problem you set out to
solve. Test with original interviewees & new participants.
Methods & Tips
• Keep it simple, mirrored rooms not
necessary!
• Make it a conversation, not a test
• Start high level with reactions, then get
into specific tests for tasks
• Record all of this if possible
• Identify common themes. Iterate.
Repeat.

OTHER PROTOTYPING TIPS
• Set a feature list and stuck to it. Don’t fall victim to feature creep
• Set a time limit and stick to it. Force yourself to work fast
• Be very careful with motion & animations
• Don’t worry about technical requirements
• Have regular checkins, don’t create in a silo
• Use the storyboard & user journey as an anchor, a thesis

• Prototyping doesn’t start with screens, it starts with people
• Invest time early to identify the problem before you start on
the solution
• Don’t get tempted by feature creep, create a prototype focused
on a specific problem
• Consider the context and create with that in mind.
• Set a deadline and stick to it. Hyper-collaborate.
RECAP

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How Prototyping Helps You Design a Better Product

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