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How can you understand that you have an idea of a successful mobile application?
For that, you can perform research or ask for an opinion from an experienced developer. For most people, they believe that they will succeed in making a successful app for their business. The appropriate way to verify this is if you have an idea of a successful mobile application. The app prototype is used for this purpose only.
An interactive and initial version of your app showing the visual and design elements is called a prototype. All its interactions and features are just replicas, and it does not contain any functional codes. An app prototype is a designed validation created initially to visualize. It checks whether the visual elements of the app and UX (user experience) are accepted by potential users and stakeholders.
It helps to refine the UX of your app before utilizing further resources. Usually, prototypes are the next level for the developers after having used mockups and wireframes. But before that, they released an MVP (minimum viable product). Compared to the other validation, app prototyping is considered a mid-impact solution and mid-cost, creating an easy addition to the development process.
Creating a prototype is not an easy and simple process. It requires tight and prior collaboration between the designers and the developers. Without these, you can create a prototype that will look nice but will be expensive and hard to pull off. Overall, the app prototype is useful in making the development process smooth and easy.
Like a ready-made app, the prototype takes a lot of effort, time, and money to create. But it has several benefits:
One of the most difficult tasks for most startup owners is to convince people to use their product. So, it is also hard to convince the stakeholders to invest money in your app project, and that too before you move forward. However, you can convince the stakeholders easily because a prototype will simplify the process.
It is because they can have a clear understanding and a visual of the app, making it clear what the investment purpose is. Prototypes are useful for those investors who are not tech-savvy. Presenting and explaining the technical aspects of the app to these people would be difficult. A common example of a prototype app is a location-based app called Burbn. Now people know it by its current name, Instagram.
For the existence of a prototype, validation is its primary reason. It tells you whether the concept of the functionality of the app exists in the real world or not. The importance lies over here. Most apps fail because they do not have the necessary market need.
Even the apps backed up by industry veterans and $2 billion have failed due to a lack of necessary market needs. During the early stages of Facebook, the younger generation was more inclined to be on social media.
Mobile app prototypes are also important as a testing for utility. They help measure its UX properly, especially with the one it will use. With the help of the feedback gained, you can work on further designs and changes.
The concept of UX is to design with a guess. We cannot be sure completely unless a user gives it a try. Prototypes also allow you to extract specific metrics that help calculate specific aspects of an app’s UX.
It is obvious that developing an app is costly, but creating an app prototype will help save a lot of money. Software projects are harder and more costly if we make further changes during the development process. However, a prototype helps you avoid problems by helping to identify them in the earlier stages of the process.
If you identify and rectify the necessary issues, you can save about 90% of the revision cost. Prototypes can help you gain a quick grasp and launch of the product. It can also help you settle down a strategy for monetization at a minimalist price.
Prototypes come in various types based on their purpose. Let’s look at them.
Low-fidelity prototypes focus only on the functions and interactions of the app. Due to this reason, they offer only basic shapes like squares to represent the elements of UI. There is no proper presence of colors and graphics. Wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes go hand in hand. Often, a prototype is obtained from a wireframe that is pre-approved. It is used to show the transition of the apps from screen to screen. One of the biggest advantages of low-fidelity prototypes is their simplicity.
That is why they help you validate your app quickly and affordably. As a result, you can finalize the overall concepts before carrying out the process down to the details of development. For this, you do not need a digital prototype. A simple sketch or diagram of your app is also acceptable. This sort of technique is called paper prototyping. Low-fidelity prototypes are also useful in evaluating the user flow of the app. They help you by allowing you to optimize the user flow to obtain a better experience. In a way, a low-fidelity prototype helps you create a foundation for your app.
A medium-fidelity prototype is an improved version of a low-fidelity prototype because visual elements and graphics are added to it. This prototype is often used in the design stage because of its visual elements. Simple images and graphics are also used to represent the elements of the UI (User Interface), helping to provide a proper visualization of the final app.
Medium-fidelity prototypes are more responsive. The animated behavior of a few UI elements can be shown with a single click instead of going from one screen to another. It is useful for the further refinement of your apps, like the UI animations, which are used instead of the visual elements that are time-consuming.
The nearest representation of your app’s final version is called the high-fidelity prototype. They contain all the final UI animations, visual elements, functionality, and human behavior. When you place your high-fidelity prototype and the final app side by side, it will be impossible to differentiate between them. The only difference is that the high-fidelity prototypes do not contain any working codes. High-fidelity prototypes are the process of getting meaningful and accurate feedback on the UX of the apps.
This is because end users can interact with the prototypes, providing insights while using the product. Detailed prototypes are also the best option for asking for investments or getting the approval of stakeholders. However, the prototype app also has limitations. They cannot determine latency or load speed because they do not have actual code running in the background. But despite all the limitations, high-fidelity prototypes are still a useful for validation
Prototypes are undoubtedly an important for app development. It is the closest thing to determining the future of your app and increasing its success rate. To learn more about app prototyping services, you can check out the website of Sunrise Technologies. We are a leading company in Australia, specializing in app development services. When you contact us, we will help you in every possible way.
Sam is a chartered professional engineer with over 15 years of extensive experience in the software technology space. Over the years, Sam has held the position of Chief Technology Consultant for tech companies both in Australia and abroad before establishing his own software consulting firm in Sydney, Australia. In his current role, he manages a large team of developers and engineers across Australia and internationally, dedicated to delivering the best in software technology.
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