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Comparative analysis of high- and low-fidelity prototypes for more valid usability evaluations of mobile devices

Published: 14 October 2006 Publication History

Abstract

Validation of low-fidelity prototyping test results is difficult because we cannot claim whether the results are the effect of the prototype itself or the essence of the design concept we try to evaluate. However, it will cost too much if we implement a fully functional prototype for more valid evaluation. In this research, we provide a qualitative and reflective analysis of usability evaluations of a text messaging functionality of a mobile phone by comparing three types of prototyping techniques---paper-based and computer-based and fully functional prototype. This analysis led us to realize how significantly the unique characteristics of each different prototype affect the usability evaluation in different ways. We identify what characteristics of each prototype causes the differences in finding usability problems, and then suggest key considerations for designing more valid low-fidelity prototypes based on this analysis.

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  • (2024)Exploring the Diminishing Allure of Paper and Low-Fidelity Prototyping Among Designers in the Software Industry: Impacts of Hybrid Work, Digital Tools, and Corporate CultureProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642774(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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cover image ACM Other conferences
NordiCHI '06: Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: changing roles
October 2006
517 pages
ISBN:1595933255
DOI:10.1145/1182475
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

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Publication History

Published: 14 October 2006

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Author Tags

  1. designing mobile devices
  2. prototyping
  3. usability evaluation

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Cited By

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  • (2024)Integrating Usability into Software Engineering Course ProjectsJournal of Computer and Education Research10.18009/jcer.141724512:23(209-240)Online publication date: 21-Mar-2024
  • (2024)Participatory Design of an Embodied Mixed Reality Experience Aimed to Assessing Individual and Collaborative Behaviors of ChildrenProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770938:CHI PLAY(1-27)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
  • (2024)Exploring the Diminishing Allure of Paper and Low-Fidelity Prototyping Among Designers in the Software Industry: Impacts of Hybrid Work, Digital Tools, and Corporate CultureProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642774(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
  • (2024)Using Eye-Tracking to Demonstrate Children’s Attention to Detail When Evaluating Low-Fidelity PrototypesInteracting with Computers10.1093/iwc/iwad052Online publication date: 10-Jan-2024
  • (2023)A modular visuo-haptic mixed reality (VHMR) aided prototype technique for in-vehicle human-machine interaction (HMI) evaluationsJournal of Engineering Design10.1080/09544828.2022.215855633:12(969-989)Online publication date: 4-Jan-2023
  • (2023)Using Think-Aloud Protocol in Immersive VR EvaluationsEveryday Virtual and Augmented Reality10.1007/978-3-031-05804-2_8(197-226)Online publication date: 19-Feb-2023
  • (2022)A study of UX practitioners roles in designing real-world, enterprise ML systemsProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3517607(1-15)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
  • (2021)Rapid Requirements Elicitation of Enterprise Applications Based on Executable MockupsApplied Sciences10.3390/app1116768411:16(7684)Online publication date: 21-Aug-2021
  • (2021)Co-design Techniques for and with Children based on Physical Theatre Practice to promote Embodied AwarenessACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/345044628:4(1-42)Online publication date: 23-Jul-2021
  • (2021)From off-site to on-site: A Flexible Framework for XR Prototyping in Sports Spectating2021 36th International Conference on Image and Vision Computing New Zealand (IVCNZ)10.1109/IVCNZ54163.2021.9653277(1-6)Online publication date: 9-Dec-2021
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