Prototyping for Software Development: Methods and Tools

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PROTOTYPING

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
TASK...............................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Explore forms of prototypes appropriate for various functionality and end-user testing
requirements....................................................................................................................................4
P1. Identify specific forms of prototyping functionality and end-user testing requirements......4
P2. Identify the standard tools available for use in prototyping..................................................6
M1. Advantages and Disadvantages of end-user testing requirements.......................................7
LO2 Plan a prototype for specific target end-users and planned tests.............................................7
P3 Evaluate the different end-user categorizations, classifications, and behavior modeling
techniques....................................................................................................................................7
P4 Explore a specific end-user and an appropriate prototyping methodology to test with this
user type.......................................................................................................................................9
M2 Apply end-user classification and behavior modeling to select an appropriate prototyping
methodology..............................................................................................................................11
M3 Suggest a plan to use appropriate prototyping methodology and tools to conduct end-user
testing.........................................................................................................................................12
LO3. Develop multiple iterations of the prototype using appropriate tools..................................14
P5. Explore appropriate tools to develop multiple prototypes..................................................14
P6. Perform end-user experiments and examine feedback........................................................17
M4 Employ an appropriate set of tools to develop your plan into a prototype.........................18

M5 Using end-user feedback build a new iteration of your prototype modified using the most
important feedback and enhancements......................................................................................19
LO4. Evaluate user feedback and test results from multiple iterations of the prototype and end-
user testing.....................................................................................................................................20
P7. Analyze end-user feedback from multiple iterations of your prototype..............................20
M6. Undertake a critical review and compare your final prototype and your test results with
your original plan.......................................................................................................................22
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................23
References......................................................................................................................................24

Introduction
The present report is all about prototyping which is said as the starting phase of any software.
When any of the developers are going to design and develop software, firstly they are going to
design the rough structure of that software. Apart from that, after designing the software just for
the testing the real one the testing is to be done on demo software and then the errors and bugs
are to find and then they are fixed by the developer before the development of the larger
software. This kind of activity is also known as beta testing or beta phase (Nakano and et.al.
2015). In this, the initial project is determined by the smaller class of users before the complete
development of the large software. This report is going to cover the various forms of the
prototype which are appropriate for the different functionality and the requirement of the end-
user. Along with this, the standard tools are also going to be covered. The methodology and the
prototype plan is also going to be designed. The various tools to develop multiple prototypes are
also going to be described and defined in this report. In the end, the report is going to be ended
by getting the feedback and reviews of the user after having the demo of the software. The
concept of prototyping is said as the software is running in the beta mode.
TASK
LO1 Explore forms of prototypes appropriate for various functionality and
end-user testing requirements
P1. Identify specific forms of prototyping functionality and end-user testing requirements.
Prototyping is all about serving to provide the project stipulations for the real and working
practices rather than the theoretical one. The process of workflow design is the phase between
the evaluation and formalization of an idea. With the concept of prototyping, the developer can
be able to test the software and is a type of user testing which seems to give the output by telling
about the usability and consistency of the software product and how effective this is to the end-
user. The prototype is produced by using the technology named as stereo-lithography. This helps
the developer and designer to design a plastic prototype through CAD computer-aided design)
and using the large machine of tools instead of an expensive injection mold (Odom and et.al.,

2016). Also, the developer can follow the steps to produce a prototype such as a developer needs
to think about the concept and what they want to develop and then they have to turn their idea
into reality by designing it on the paper. After that, the developer must develop a real or virtual
prototype and then they have to design the physical prototype. In software development, the
prototype is a type of basic working model of software or information system which is developed
for demonstration and development.
The prototype is the verification of the design which proves the design of the product. The
developer must think first about their product design and then they can apply their imagery into
the physical world. The prototype is having many forms, some of the specific forms of
prototyping functionality are outlined below -
1. Film Prototype - In this, the prototype is designed in the form of video to show the idea
to the customers in the graphical or digital form.
2. Feasibility Prototype - This prototype is used to define the feasibility of the different
solutions (Wu and et.al., 2015). This is implemented just to resolve the risk or issue of the
technical product to check their performance and the compatibility of their components.
3. Storyboard - This type of prototype is used when the developer has to define a product in
the form of a story and also in this the typical order is to be determined just to present the
information.
4. Simulations - This is the prototype which is used to design a product digitally to judge the
performance of the software in the physical world.
5. Wireframe - This prototype is just in the form of Skeleton of the product which
represented in the form of schematics or illustrations which capture the features of design
such as layout, idea, architecture, etc.
End-User Requirements
The users are having huge expectations from the prototype of the software, and these are
mentioned below -
 The prototype must contain the limited colors and the hyperlink text must be highlighted
with blue.

 The user is having the expectations that a prototype does not contain any of the images or
graphical data.
 The font of the prototype can be anything but not Arial.
 The prototype must contain the real labels on all of the interactive components.
 The prototype must have the real content, the developer must use and insert the real text
to design a prototype.
 The coding which is used by the developer must be simple.
P2. Identify the standard tools available for use in prototyping.
There are many standard tools use to design the prototype effectively and these are outlined as
below -
1. Axure - This is the most famous prototyping tool used to design the prototype of real
software or product. This tools has been used since 2002 and having too much of
importance as this is the most inclusive tool in term of functionality. This tool permits the
designer to design the collaborative and clickable wireframes which the client loves to
have.
2. Balsamiq - This is also a prototyping tool which is used to design the prototype. This tool
is having a huge amount of ideas in a very short time. The wireframes which are created
in this tool are just like a freehand sketch of the product (Brown, 2015). This gives us the
real design of the software which is to be developed in the physical world.
3. InvisionApp - This tool helps the designer to come up with a real design by just a few
clicks. After designing the designer can upload the prototype in the InvisionApp and then
add some transitions and animations to transfer your file into the clickable prototype.
4. Sketch - The Sketch is another prototyping tool which is basically designed for the Mac
users and also this is compared with the Adobe illustrator. This tool is fully vector-based
so this will not lose the quality and pixel snapping. This is very easy to share this
prototype with the co-partners and clients. Also, this prototype will compress your file or
make zip file so that this can become easy to share with other members of the team.

M1. Advantages and Disadvantages of end user testing requirements.
The advantages and disadvantages of the end-user testing requirement are given below -
Advantages Disadvantages
End-User testing helps to optimize the code, by
the requirement of the end-users the code is
tested and optimized.
The cost of end-user testing is very expensive.
By doing the testing of the prototype, the tester
used to remove the extra lines of code.
This is very difficult to maintain the testing as
the debugging and code analyzers are essential.
At the time of testing, by the knowledge of
tester’s in coding the maximum of the content
is attained by testing the theoretical part.
The testers must have adequate knowledge
about the testing of the requirement of the user.
They must notice that the expectations of the
user from the prototype are fulfilled or not.
LO2 Plan a prototype for specific target end-users and planned tests.
P3 Evaluate the different end-user categorizations, classifications, and behavior
modeling techniques.
This section is going to categorize the end-users and classify them according to their work. For
the development of the product, and end-user is that person who is going to use that product.
Along with this, the end-users are kind of users who maintain and support the product. As this
product is going to design for the corporate client and consumer market, the various types of
end-users as the corporate client are stated below -
 Sysops - This is known as the system operator who operated the system and runs the
server of the computer. This is the one who manages the daily operations of the computer
server and always available for the system.
 System Administration - This is the person who handles the operation of the computer
system (Patwardhan, 2016 ). This is the one who is paid just to install, maintain and
support the servers or the computer systems.
 Database Administrations - This is the person who manages the entire data which is
used to develop and design the product. This is the only one who can create, modify, edit,
delete or retrieve the data ina very short time.

 IT experts - These are the persons who are having some special skill and knowledge in
the specific field and also have the authority to do anything in that field such as these
persons are experts in information technology. Thus they can perform any of the task
related to IT.
 Computer technicians - This is the person who resolves or solves all the issues related
to the computer system. This is the one who can easily be able to identify the errors and
then resolve them in a very short time. The technicians in a computer having adequate
knowledge to maintain and repair the hardware or software devices of the computer.
 Software Professionals - This is the person who designs and develops the software for
the organizations. They are the only one who can be able to implement and then find the
errors and maintain the software in a better way.
Behavior modeling techniques - This is the act of directing the employees about how to
perform any task just by showing them the modeled behavior (Salazar and et.al., 2015). The
various behavior modeling techniques are outlined below-
 Develop the objectives of the prototype - The first technique is to develop the prototype
plan and implement the idea and how the prototype I going to be designed.
 Determine the functionality of prototype - In this, the developer has to decide about the
input and the expected results from the prototype. The developer analyzes the user
requirement and according to that, they reduce the cost and time of the prototype
(Rasnacis and Berzisa, 2017). For reducing this, the developer has to overlook the
functionality. Develop and implement the prototype - The primary prototype is established which
contains only the user interfaces. Evaluation of the developed prototype - After developing the prototype, the users can
find errors in that and after getting the feedback of the users, the developer needs to
follow that and if any of the changes required then they have to repeat 3 and 4 technique.


P4 Explore aspecific end-user and an appropriate prototyping methodology to test
with this user type.
The methodology for prototyping is the development process of software which allows the
software developer to design the prototype and reduce the functionality as per the user
requirement and then make the changes before implementing the design for the final product.
The Agile methodology is going to be used by the specific end-user software professional to test
the prototype. The Agile methodology is the process of managing the project by breaking the
task into the small modules and works with collaboration along with the stakeholders and must
have the continuous improvement and iteration at each level of the project (Dennis and et.al.
2018). Agile methodology initiates with a user which define how the product is going to be used
by them and what problem that product solves. This methodology defines the expectations of the
customers from the project team. This methodology is all about giving the user that product
which they want by adopting certain stages for the completion of the project in an effective time
frame.
Figure 1: Agile Methodology

As given in the scenario that the product designer must adopt the methodology in which they
have to design the work in various iterations and have to get the feedback from the client about
each iteration. So, agile methodology is the perfect example to use for the present scenario
because this methodology states that each task of the project must be completed by dividing the
task into the smaller modules and these modules are known as iterations (Abrahamsson and et.al.
2017). Each iteration is taken for the work and after developing that get the feedback from the
client. The final iteration holds the entire work just to review again and get approved by the user
as per their expectations.

M2 Apply end-user classification and behavior modeling to select an appropriate
prototyping methodology.
In the above section, the classification of the end-user has been done such as system operator,
system administrator, software -professional, computer technicians, etc. All of these are
classified just to develop the product for the corporate client and the consumer market. The end-
users are not only those who are going to use the product but also those who maintain and
support the product. To design the prototype of the product agile methodology was used by the
product designer so that the product can be designed in a better manner. Agile methodology is
having many of the benefits and drawbacks which are mentioned as below -
Advantages Disadvantages
In the agile methodology, the business persons
and the software developers are working with
cooperation and collaboration.
In this, only the high authorities as the power
to take any decision during the development of
the product and there are no place for the new
beginners.
In this methodology, the changes are to be
done after the development of the product
(Advantages and disadvantages of agile
methodology, 2019).
As per all the methodologies, even agile is also
not an appropriate methodology for any of the
project.
By using this methodology the product
designer can able to satisfy their customers as
the product is to be delivered to the client in
time.
This methodology is not applied to any of the
situations.
In this methodology, the communication
between the team members is face to face by
which the exact information is passed between
them.
This methodology is used by only those
persons who are having adequate knowledge of
working and who re having the definite goals,
else this does not work as per the expectations
of the client.

M3 Suggest a plan to use appropriate prototyping methodology and tools to
conducted-user testing.
The plan to use the agile methodology is stated here which is having about six phases, which are
outlined below -
1. Planning - This is the first phase of agile methodology in which the designer is going to
make a plan as per the requirement of user and then they get the approval about their plan
from the client.
2. Requirement Analysis - This is the second phase of the agile methodology in which the
product design is going to collect the resources and whatever needed to design the
prototype.
3. Designing - This is the third phase and main part in which the prototype is going to be
designed by the product designer and then the approval is to be taken by the client.
4. Coding - This is the phase in which the coding is to be done by the software professional
for the designed product (Taibi and et.al. 2017). This coding is done to run the product
effectively.
5. Unit Testing - This is the testing stage in which the software tester tests the product that
the product must be error-free. After testing if any of the error occurs then the developer
is going to resolve it at that stage only.
6. Acceptance testing - After resolving the issues or errors the acceptance is taken from the
users or client by taking their feedbacks about the product and then the testing is going to
be accepted by the client.
Tools to conduct the end-user testing
User testing at the stage of prototyping helps to avoid the issue occurs in the development of
the product. The tools used for end-user testing are stated below -
1. Loop11 - This is the online user testing tool which enables the user to run the
usability lab and moderator without having the need of usability lab. The user tests