Interactive prototype as design specification

The interactive prototype provides a specification of the design solution by presenting and demonstrating its content, functionality and appearance.

• Content - the content might be information on a web page, products in a web shop, data or diagrams in a data analysis application. Make sure that the content is representative of the type of application/system you are designing, and is well formulated and well presented. No Lorem Ipsum allowed.
• Functionality - all major areas of functionality should be covered, and be presented in a way that demonstrates its dynamic/interactive properties.
• Appearance - the look and feel of the application

A prototype that specifies the final design needs to be considerably more complete in coverage (what is included), depth (depth of representation) and fidelity (graphical, functional, interactive) than the prototypes that you will have used in your project for exploring and evaluating design options, which is normal practice during the course of iterative design development. Those prototypes are often - and deliberately so - incomplete and narrow, focusing on a single aspect or a specific feature of the design - the one one is working on at the moment. This does not mean that a specification prototype must contain absolutely everything and simulate every part of the functionality. That is neither necessary nor possible, and - more importantly, not resource efficient. But a prototype that provides a design specification should present all major areas of content and functionality, and do so in a realistic manner, including its dynamic (interactive) aspects. 

Aim to make the specification prototype self-contained, i.e. that it can be used without previous instruction to allow someone without previous knowledge of the design to explore its content and functionality freely. This might require integrating descriptions/instructions into the prototype, such as presenting a scenario or describing unavoidable limitations in its functionality. Carefully consider the placement and timing of such additional explanatory content as to interfere minimally with the regular user experience.

The specification prototype can replace the traditional written design specification. In comparison with this, the interactive specification prototype provides a considerably more expressive - and therefore also more convincing - demonstration of utility and value potential. This helps clients/partners make better decisions on whether or not to move forward with the project, as well as providing a clear guide for the accompanying technical development work (outside the scope of your project work).

Given the diverse nature of the projects in this course, the exact properties of the specification prototype may differ among groups. Such project specific adjustments will be discussed in the tutoring sessions.