A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.
Prototypes aspects:
1. Proof-of-Principle Prototype: It serves to verify some key functional aspects of the intended design, but usually does not have all the functionality of the final product.
2. Working Prototype: It represents all or nearly all of the functionality of the final product.
3. Visual Prototype: It represents the size and appearance, but not the functionality, of the intended design. It is a preliminary type of visual prototype in which the geometric features of a design are emphasized, with less concern for color, texture, or other aspects of the final appearance.
4. User Experience Prototype: It represents enough of the appearance and function of the product that it can be used for user research.
5. Functional Prototype: It captures both function and appearance of the intended design, though it may be created with different techniques and even different scale from final design.
6. Paper Prototype is a printed or hand-drawn representation of the user interface of a software product. Such prototypes are commonly used for early testing of a software design, and can be part of a software walkthrough to confirm design decisions before more costly levels of design effort are expended.
