Prototyping for Evaluation

This tutorial will guide you in building prototypes that move beyond expressing a design concept and are prepared for evaluation. We will particularly focus on what makes a prototype testable and criteria that you might apply to prototypes you create for your final project.

Pre-Class Tasks

1. Read Houde & Hill (1997) “What do prototypes prototype?”,

2. Choose a user interface described in a UIST or CHI paper

3. Post a forum post (100–200 words) answering:

   • What is the system and what does it do?
   • Which parts of the interface are interactive? How does the user engage with the system?
     
   • What steps/tasks did participants do in the user study?
     
   • If you made a prototype of this interface, what would you need to include to test it?
     
   • Include one image or sketch to illustrate the interface (figure from paper, screenshot, or your annotated sketch highlighting key interactive components).

N.B., for this task, make sure you choose a paper from CHI or UIST that actually describes a novel interface. If your answer to “what is the system” is “this paper did not introduce a system” then you did not choose an appropriate paper!

Plan for the Class

1. Task 1: Understand the Concept of Testable Interactions (10m)
2. Task 2: Build a Testable Prototype (50 min)
   
3. Task 3: Prototype Showcase and Peer Feedback (30 min)

In-Class Tasks

Task 1: Understand the Concept of Testable Interactions (10 minutes)

In this task, you will think about what makes a prototype testable and apply these criteria to a prototyping plan.

A prototype is testable if it lets you observe and learn from real user interactions. Below, we have set out some criteria for a testable prototype that we developed within the tutors. While these criteria aren’t identical to others found in HCI literature (e.g., Houde & Hill, 1997; Lim et al., 2008; Odom et al., 2016), we feel that our criteria work for the context of this class and the needs of our assessment.

Read through the criteria, and keep them in mind for the activity below:

1. Interactive: Can users actually perform the steps or tasks you’re trying to test? (even if simulated)
   • Users must be able to take action and see a response, even if it’s simulated.
   • Examples: pressing a paper button triggers a screen change, dragging a card moves it to a new location, or speaking a command triggers a response.
   • Ask: “Can someone unfamiliar with this prototype actually perform the task I want to test?”
   • Tip: A static sketch is not enough—the user must act on the prototype.
2. Clear: Can users understand what the system is, what to do, and how it works?
   • Make the system’s state and feedback obvious.
   • Examples: highlighting selections, showing confirmation messages, or providing visual cues for next steps.
   • Ask: “Will a new user generally know what to do next without explanation?”
3. Evaluative: Can you observe users, gather feedback, or identify what works and what doesn’t?
   • Decide what success looks like and what errors or hesitation mean.
   • Examples: did the user complete the action correctly? Did they get confused or hesitate?
   • Ask: “What can I measure or observe that tells me if this interaction is effective?”
     
4. Focused: Are you including only what’s needed to test the intended interaction or task?
   • Include the elements needed to test the key task; less focus on aesthetics or extra features.
   • Ask: “Does every part of this prototype help answer my testing question, or can something be removed?”

Now, complete this activity:

1. In your group, look at the pre-class forum posts.
   
2. Choose the most interesting system or interface posted by a group member.
   
3. Discuss:
   • Which part of the system could you prototype?
     
   • What is the key interaction?
     
   • What feedback would make it clear to users?
     
   • How could you observe success?
   • Would your prototype meet the four criteria above?

Task 2: Build a Testable Prototype (50 mins)

Now you’re going to try building a quick low-fidelity prototype that can help test a specific problem and interaction. Your prototype can be made with paper, click-through slides, or another super quick method of assembling a testable prototype. In groups, your tutor will give you a random user problem. Focus on one key interaction.

Here’s the activity:

1. In your group, identify the key interaction you want to focus on testing.
   
2. Sketch and build a testable prototype based on that key interaction.
3. Build your prototype!
4. Assess whether your prototype is interactive, clear, evaluative, and focused (you can use the mapping table below to help structure your responses). If it isn’t, change it until it is!

A few prototyping notes:

• Focus only on the essential elements needed to test the interaction — do not worry about polish or aesthetics.
  
• Materials can include paper, printed screens, simple click-through slides, or other low-fidelity tools.
  
• Use a Wizard of Oz approach if needed to simulate system responses (Porcheron et al., 2021).

Mapping Table

Task 3: Prototype Showcase & Peer Feedback (30 mins)

Groups will present and demonstrate their testable prototypes to the class, allowing peers to interact and provide feedback. The focus is on observing real user interactions, not just explaining how the prototype works. Follow these steps:

1. Group Demo (1–2 min per group)
   • Introduce the scenario and user problem.
     
   • Highlight the key interaction.
2. Peer Interaction (2–3 min per group)
   • Each other group tries the interaction.
     
   • Observers record one positive observation and one question or point of confusion about the interaction.
     
   • Use a feedback sheet or notebook to capture responses.
3. Group Reflection (1–2 min per group)
   • Each presenting group reads aloud the one positive and one question received from peers.
     
   • Discuss briefly how they might improve the prototype based on this feedback.

Resources

• “What do prototypes prototype?” (Houde & Hill, 1997), available online here
• “The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as manifestations of design ideas” (Lim et al., 2008)
• “From Research Prototype to Research Product” (Odom et al., 2016)
• Week 3 lecture on prototyping (link)
• NNgroup: Paper Prototyping 101
• NNgroup: Paper prototyping article
• NNgroup: the Goldilocks principle for prototyping

References