Paper prototyping - what is it good for?: a comparison of paper- and computer-based low-fidelity prototyping

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the differences between computer-based and paper-based low-fidelity prototypes. It researched whether subjects confronted with these two kinds of prototypes differ in their willingness to criticize a system and to give suggestions for its improvement. The chosen approach was an empirical study including test sessions using both kinds of prototypes. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to measure and to explain possible differences.

REFERENCES

• 1: Boling, E. and Frick, T.W. (1997). Holistic rapid prototyping for web design: Early usability testing is essential. In B. Khan (Ed), Web-Based Instruction. (pp. 319--328) Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Educational Technology Publication, Inc.
• 2: Brooke, J. (1996). SUS: A 'quick and dirty' usability scale. In: Usability Evaluation in Industry. Taylor and Francis.
• 3: Catani, M.B. and Biers, D.W. (1998). Usability evaluation and prototype fidelity: Users and usability professionals. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 42nd Annual Meeting, 1998.
• 4: Jakob Nielsen, Paper versus computer implementations as mockup scenarios for heuristic evaluation, Proceedings of the IFIP TC13 Third Interational Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, p.315-320, August 27-31, 1990
• 5: Sefelin, R. (2002). Comparison of paper- and computer-based low-fidelity prototypes. CURE (Technical Report, available from the author).
• 6: Robert A. Virzi , Jeffrey L. Sokolov , Demetrios Karis, Usability problem identification using both low- and high-fidelity prototypes, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: common ground, p.236-243, April 13-18, 1996, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada [doi>10.1145/238386.238516]
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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Evaluation/methodology

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: User-centered design; Prototyping

Keywords:
design methods, prototyping, usability testing