Creating an artefact allows you to go in with a hypothesis and get a yes or a no to it. It also helps the participant imagine what you’re talking about. This way you get to see their honest reactions to your product.
Depending on what you’re testing, pick the artefact you need to show to users.
It can be a clickable prototype if you’re testing the product. Use Figma.
It can be a product demo video if you’re testing a product construct. Create a clickthrough prototype on Figma and record it as a demo / walkthrough using Loom
It can be a landing page if you’re testing a positioning or marketing pitch. Use Framer
It can be a card sorting exercise if you’re trying to understand mental models.
Anything more than that is going to be overwhelming and leave no time for any explorative conversation.
Limit to testing 1-2 broad areas like new product innovation (15 min per area)
Or 2-4 specific areas like in usability of interaction patterns / narratives (7 min per area)
Get close to the real product to simulate a realistic user experience and gather authentic feedback. Get details like transitions, copy, and pressed states right. Remove the blue hotspots if you’re using Figma.
At the same time trying to make the prototype too real can overengineer it and take too long to put together with diminishing returns on learnings. Skip adjacent flows and error states that you’re not testing. Focus on getting the flows you’re testing right. If users encounter one of the adjacent flows, gently move them back to the core task.
The Prototyping Tools We Use in our Design Sprint
DESIGN SPRINT 2.0 - Prototyping Day Tips by AJ&Smart
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