The Importance of Prototype Testing behind Successful Launch of Your Website

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Before launching a successful website, prototype testing helps you to recapitulate on the design of the website during the early development period. Prototype testing is a method of testing the sample design or prototype with the participants or real users in order toevaluate the validity of the design.

About Prototype Testing:

Prototype testing of a website occurs before the real development or coding starts. In order to conduct prototype testing, you have to make a rough drawing of the interface of your website and then you have to share this prototype with the users who will perform certain tasks on the prototype. On the basis of the users’ performance, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your design. The purpose of this testing is to find out the problems and recognize the opportunities for improvement in the early stage of the development cycle. This testing process is effective to understand the expectations and needs of the users and to make the necessary changes before the actual development of the website starts.

How to Conduct Prototype Testing:

At the very beginning, it is essential to have a clear idea about which type of design you seek for validation. If you are clear about what you want, this will help you to determine the most suitable prototype for you. On the basis of the complexity, your prototype can vary from a low-conformity sketch to a fully interactive and functional prototype. A low-conformity prototype is effective to assess the concepts, whereas,in order to test the usability and recognize the issues, a high-conformity prototype is useful.

After the completion of the prototype, you should bring it to the users who will perform certain tasks using the prototype. In the case of prototype testing, you should always consider having the participants who represent your target audience. During the test, you should observe the interaction of the users with the prototype and listen carefully to their feedback in order to find out the issues and areas for further improvement. From the responses of the users, you can learn how to improve your website to meet the needs and satisfaction of the users.

Factors Affecting the Prototype Testing:

Prototype testing is an important part of the website development process. However, how you conduct the testing that depends on several factors such as your goals, the kind of product, available resources, how far you are in the development process, etc.

Advantages:

Prototype testing provides several advantages such as

Before launching a product, you can identify the issues in your design through this testing.
This testing provides an excellent opportunity to test your hypothesis and you can launch the website confidently.

iii) You can avoid the negative experience of the users by getting early feedback from the real users.

iv) Prototype testing is very cheaper as you can recognize the issues before you start coding.

v) Above all, this testing helps you to collect data about the expectations and needs of the users, and therefore, this is an outstanding way to research the market.