My 3 Favorite Tools for Prototyping / User Testing

March 7, 2021

You might be familiar with the popular phrase from IDEO: “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a prototype is worth a 1000 meetings”.

Basically, the biggest benefit of prototyping is the risk — the sooner we fail, the faster we would learn. Designing and testing a prototype costs the business a ton less than running with, building, and launching a product, only to learn after the launch that it wasn’t solving the user’s problem.

There a tons of free and paid prototyping tools out there — it can be almost overwhelming. Today, I am just sharing my favorites. These I use a ton, love, and will always come back to. If you’re a new designer (or one with more experience), using these 3 tools will get you a long way — plus, the learning curve on these 3 tools is pretty low. Let’s dive in, friend!

 


 

1. POP by Marvel

My go-to for guerrilla usability testing. POP allows me to transform my pen and paper sketches into an interactive iPhone / Android prototype. It’s crazy powerful and (guerrilla testing) can save tons of time for your team in the long-term.

2. Figma Prototyping

Gone are the days when you had to export all of your artboards into a separate tool for prototyping. With Figma’s built-in prototyping tool, you can turn your static design files into an interactive experience—no coding required.

3. Optimal Workshop: Chalkmark (First-Click Testing)

Do people know where to click when they land on your website? First-click testing helps you understand where on an interface people would click first to complete a task, giving you the insights you need to create interfaces that people will understand straight away.

 


 

I hope that some of these tools are helpful to you as you move forward in your design career!

You can find me sharing content on Instagram and Twitter. Or connect professionally with me on LinkedIn.

Hope you have a great week!

-Ella

SHARE THIS STORY
COMMENTS
ADD A COMMENT