Your User Feedback Goals should Determine the Fidelity for Your Prototype

Overview

The design team at your security company is making too many assumptions about product design. Even though your team is talented, it’s still guesswork. We used to do that too…but it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Instead, we run user testing sessions at every decision point. Customers know the problem your enterprise security product is trying to solve. They know which features they’ll pay for. And the more often you ask their opinion, the faster you get to product market fit.

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” - Sherlock Holmes

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Test early and often

That sounds great, but when should you user test? Are sketches and wireframes too early in the process or should you wait till you have an MVP release of your product? 

From our experience, you’ll get different feedback from pixel perfect mockups and low fidelity sketches.

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Lo-fi | Wireframes and sketches

• Information Architecture
• User Flow
• Understanding User Needs

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Hi-fi | Mockups and clickable prototypes

• Look and Feel
• Interactions
• Trust Factor

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Here are some examples of when to use Lo-fi or Hi-fi

• Lofi | If you are trying to determine the user flow, sketches are perfect
• Lofi | If you are considering where elements should be placed on the screen, wireframes and grey boxes are the right level
• Hifi | If your trying to establish trust with your users, you need full color mockups
• Hifi | If your goal is to test the stickieness or fun of your application, use high fidelity mockups. 

Warning: color and animations can be distraction if you are trying to determine product market fit.

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It all comes down to this

If you want to ensure you are creating a product users actually want, it’s critical to conduct user testing throughout the different stages of the product design process. Start with rough wireframes and continue through high-fidelity mockups and prototypes. 

When is the last time you user tested your product?

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