What is it?

High fidelity prototypes are polished visuals that look and function close to what you envision the end product to be. It is best to test with high fidelity prototype to get as much feedback as possible in order to pivot quickly prior to or during coding and development. Once the digital service is being built or already built, it will be more difficult to introduce change.

Purpose of high fidelity prototype

The purpose of testing with high fidelity prototype rather than a live website is:

  • get clarification on content
  • understand user flow and information hierarchy
  • consider what the different forms of execution will best align with user’s goals
  • spot mistakes early and pivot early, rather than after development and coding starts

There will be cases where high fidelity prototypes can be limiting and will not give the feedback we need as if it was a live site. For example, if you are looking to get feedback on search results based on the user’s input, you may structure your tests to guide the user to input a specific term to get to a proposed state since there are endless possibilities of what the user could input in a text field. We suggest testing as much as the prototype is capable, and anything that needs to be tested live will have to happen during the live state.

Tools to make high fidelity prototypes

Every software application has its strengths and weaknesses, and they are also constantly improving and iterating. Many have free trial periods so that you can test their helpfulness before you buy. It is also worth considering how your team is structured when exploring what tool would work best.

Here are a few well known tools you can explore:

  • Figma
  • Adobe XD
  • Sketch (Mac only)
  • Invision
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