Mobile applications are a huge challenge, especially for companies that are just starting their adventure with creating applications. Big tags and a high level of uncertainty are a bad combination for any business. For inexperienced businesses, mobile app development can often be bloated, and the final cost far exceeds the original budget, which is equally frustrating for developers and business owners alike. On the other hand, cutting shortcuts can lead to critical bugs such as crashes, obfuscated user interfaces, or insecurity – problems that then lead to high user abandonment rates.
Hence, firstly, let’s understand the meaning of Mobile App Prototype:
The prototype of the mobile application is an interactive demo that displays the design, functionality, and user flow of the application. The prototype, also called interactive prototypes or interactive wireframe models / mock-ups, is created entirely in the project and has no actual programming required for any application.
Here are the benefits of Mobile App Prototyping:
- Enhanced Clarity-
Clarity about what you’re going to end up building is possibly the most important thing to have before you start developing mobile applications. If there is uncertainty around one aspect of the application, the result can surprise the parties involved (which is rarely a good thing). It’s notoriously difficult to get a general understanding of intended functionality, user flow, and even appearance without visual aid. Therefore, a prototype application can be so valuable. By creating interactions, interfaces, and images in the prototype, all stakeholders can visualize and interact with the application before spending money to develop the application, thus ensuring the overall goal of the mobile app. The app is exactly as expected.
- Easy Collaborations-
Prototypes enable teams to collaborate and iterate quickly and efficiently. Because all work is done in design rather than development, change rounds can be implemented faster. The iteration of the prototype can be introduced several times a week; H. Customers are free (and even encouraged) to request multiple rounds of changes until the application is perfect. Ongoing discussions between UX designers, product owners, and developers ensure that the solutions proposed in the prototype are applicable to all parties when the project enters the development phase.
- Acceptance made Hassle-Free-
For businesses, one of the most difficult aspects of developing mobile applications is targeting stakeholders. There are usually several decision-makers- some are very tech-savvy, others question the need for expensive digital technology. One thing is for sure-it’s much easier to persuade a full house of people to spend $100,000 on an app, because you can show them exactly how it looks and how it works, instead of reading a bunch of functional specifications and make sure it will be great. Especially when internal stakeholders can present themselves in multiple stages, visual aids may be invaluable in terms of showing value.
- Cheaper in cost-
Prototyping before building the mobile or web application itself is not always cheaper. When you have a development team that is equally talented and expensive, any inefficiency can be costly. That’s why it’s so important to be clear about what you’re building and why before you start – there are almost always several rounds of feedback and iteration before the perfect solution is approved. This design process is simple and accessible during prototyping – in fact, it’s very welcome. However, if an application is developed and found not to meet the originally intended requirements and require redevelopment, it can be extremely costly. Even if a prototype has to go through several rounds of feedback, the end result will be much cheaper than if you had to go through at least one round of unexpected development transitions. With the prototype phase enabled, unknowns and threats are pre-loaded – mistakes can be made, more revision rounds can be added, the design can be completely reset – and the project can still lead to a successful application that is delivered on time and with appropriate costing/price.
Thus, Mobile App Prototyping is essential to help maintain balance throughout the development cycle. So, among various available tools, you can choose the most convenient option by talking to designers, developers, or front-end developers.
