If you intend to take part in the design concept you will obviously soon or later confront yourself with the notion of sketch and prototype that could sound at first confusing. You could find the frontier fuzzy and may ask yourself the question:
« Is eventually sketch just another word for protype or low-fidelity prototype? »
The answer is NO.
Sketches and prototypes are both instantiations of the design concept but they serve different purposes and appear at different stages of the design process. Sketches are used in the early ideation stages, whereas prototypes are used at the later stages where things are converging in the design process.
The ideation stages are all about getting a concept out and sketching the best way to explore, generate, refine and evaluate a range of interaction concepts to gain a deep understanding of the undertaking. Sketches must be done fast and there is no place for details or perfection. During this period of confronting ideas, a sheet of paper and a thick pen is often preferred.
On the contrary, the investment in a prototype is larger than that in a sketch, hence there are fewer of them, they are less disposable, and they take longer to build.
Bill Brandon illustrates this wonderfully on the following diagram.
He completes by saying: «The difference between the two is as much a contrast of purpose, or intent, as it is a contrast in form. The arrows emphasize that this is a continuum, not an either/or proposition.»
Mots-clefs : prototyping, sketching, wireframing
