Prototyping is used to identify design and functionality problems before detailed app implementation begins. Prototyping can take a variety of forms depending on who it is performed by and intended for. Academic researchers and community partners can create simple, hand-drawn sketches of core elements on specific app screens on paper. Justinmind (a company producing prototyping and wireframing software) provides a nice, free, illustrated guide to paper-prototyping for app development including pros and cons and there is guidance on on how paper-prototyping of a mobile phone app can be used to give software developer, end users, or investor a ‘guided tour’ of the intended app design.
Software developers and/or people with some topic-expertise will generally use wireframing software that allows fast mock-ups of app interfaces and/or proto-typing using design patterns — which are common elements such as text boxes, radio buttons, forms, images, embedded videos — with or without associated code generation.
The Value of Prototypes
Prototypes of any format are helpful in multiple ways: they force concretisation of abstract ideas; they provide a concrete instantiation of an intended app design which makes it much easier to communicate effectively and avoid misunderstandings for stakeholders. Prototypes can be used to gather initial user feedback, for example by presenting a version to the intended target audience or investors and asking their feedback on design and interaction aspects in preliminary user testing.
Prototypes provide a useful reality check on what constitutes a reasonable amount of content for display on mobile phone screens, and for the intended time-period of use. One common issue encountered during app development is that the amount of content is excessive for this delivery format, which can result in user disengagement. A paper prototype will entail the actual number of screens a user would be required to complete for a given content amount and can flag this issue early on.
Content creation
‘Content’ is often understood to relate to any text, images, videos or audios provided to users (often patients) at the point of use. It can be tempting to try and provide as much information as possible but users’ attention spans are limited. People consume digital content quickly and in chunks, and too much content can take away from the key message.
However, this informative, user-facing content is only one part of a product. It is important to think about the structure of the app and interactivity, including features such as notifications, in-app nudges, questionnaires, trackers and how data is shown.
Finally, it is valuable to include logic i.e. the rules that guide a user through a programme. For example, if you want people to see a certain page following a certain response, you would describe this as:
IF user answers a, THEN show b, or IF user answers x, THEN show y.
It can be really helpful to approach the logic of the programme as a set of ‘IF-THEN’ rules, which need to be really clearly communicated to the development team.
TIP: It can help to draw out user journeys, essentially depicting a user’s route through the programme, over time and/or once actions have been completed.
At this stage it is important to:
- Get feedback from users early on, to check tone and relevance.
- Write simply and avoid jargon.
- Map out the user journey through the programme (including tailored pathways)
- Use this map to write out the intervention logic.
