Lightning Fast Prototypes: Idea to Interactive Validation

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About this service

Summary

Bridge the gap between concept and validation. We combine AI-powered efficiency with 25+ years of digital product expertise to rapidly build high-fidelity, interactive prototypes.
Get your ideas into the hands of your audience quickly to gather crucial feedback, iterate faster, and make informed decisions before committing significant development resources.

Process

Discovery Meeting
We start with a focused session to deeply understand your vision, target audience, core user needs, key objectives/metrics for the prototype, and any existing research or ideas you have. This ensures we're aligned from the outset.
Journey Mapping
Based on the discovery, we'll map out the essential user flow(s) that the prototype needs to demonstrate. This helps us focus on the critical path and interactions for effective testing and validation, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
Prototype Definition & Wireframing
We translate the user journey into a tangible structure. This involves defining the specific screens, key UI elements, interaction points, and content placeholders needed for the prototype. We'll create basic wireframes or sketches to agree on the layout and flow.
Tool Selection
Based on the required fidelity, interactivity, and your potential future needs (e.g., handoff to developers), we select the most appropriate prototyping tool.
Time estimation
With a clear scope and toolset defined, we provide a transparent estimate for the prototype build, outlining the timeline for execution and delivery.
Execution
This is where the magic happens! Leveraging AI assistance for speed and our deep UX/UI expertise for quality, interaction design, and usability best practices, we build the interactive prototype according to the defined specifications.
Delivery
You receive a link to the interactive prototype, ready to be shared and tested. We'll provide brief guidance on how to best use it for gathering feedback and answer any immediate questions.
Evaluative Research (Optional, but highly recommended)
You've got your lightning-fast prototype – now let's see how it performs with real users. This optional service takes the guesswork out of feedback by systematically evaluating your prototype's usability and user experience. We help you understand how users interact with your concept, identify friction points, and validate design decisions before you move to development.
Test Planning & Design:
I'll collaborate with you to define clear research goals and key tasks users should perform within the prototype, establish criteria for recruiting representative participants (we can assist with recruitment strategies or work with users you provide) and design the testing protocol, including task scenarios and potential follow-up questions.
Usability Testing Sessions:
I'll conduct moderated or unmoderated remote usability testing sessions where target users interact with the prototype while attempting the defined tasks. Sessions focus on observing user behavior, capturing direct feedback, and identifying usability hurdles (e.g., confusion, errors, points of delight). Standard metrics like task success can also be measured.
Analysis & Synthesis:
We meticulously analyze session recordings, user comments, and behavioral data. We identify patterns, recurring themes, critical usability issues, and areas where the prototype performs well.
Actionable Reporting:
We synthesize the findings into a clear, concise report.

FAQs

  • What exactly do you mean by "prototype"? Is this working code?

    Think of it as an interactive mockup or simulation. It will look and feel like a real application or website within the defined scope, allowing users to click through screens and interact with elements. It's built using specialized prototyping tools and depending on AI results, the code can be provided. but as it is automatically generated by AI, it's not up to us to generate good code, only the AI output.

  • How "lightning fast" are we talking? What's the typical turnaround time?

    Turnaround time depends on the complexity (number of screens, interaction depth). However, our blend of AI assistance and streamlined process allows us to deliver significantly faster than traditional methods. Simple prototypes (e.g., a landing page, single feature flow) can often be turned around in a matter of days once the scope is defined. We'll give you a specific estimate after our Discovery Meeting.

  • What do I need to bring to the Discovery Meeting?

    The clearer your initial idea, the better! Bring your concept, who your target users are, what problem you're trying to solve for your user, any sketches or existing materials you have, and the key questions you want the prototype to help you answer. But don't worry if it's not fully fleshed out: we'll help clarify it.

  • How is this different from just hiring a freelance designer or using an AI tool myself?

    We offer a unique combination: the strategic oversight, usability expertise, and interaction design knowledge honed over 25+ years, supercharged by AI for speed and efficiency where it makes sense. You get the rapid output without sacrificing the quality, strategic thinking, and user-centered approach that pure AI tools often lack or that requires significant vetting with individual freelancers.

  • What role does AI play in the process? Will AI be designing my user interface?

    AI acts as an accelerator, primarily during the Execution phase. It might help rapidly generate initial layouts, populate content, or create variations based on our expert direction and add real interaction, on every detail, as the final product should work. However, the core UX strategy, information architecture, interaction design, and final polish are driven by human expertise, ensuring the prototype is usable, effective, and aligns with your goals, without hallucinations.

  • What if I need changes after seeing the first version of the prototype?

    My process is designed for speed based on the initial defined scope. Minor tweaks or adjustments identified immediately upon delivery can often be accommodated quickly. Significant changes or additions would typically require a re-scoping and potentially a follow-on engagement, which we can discuss. The goal is rapid validation, so I focus on getting the core concept testable first, without compromising the experience and quality.

  • What tools do you typically use?

    I primarily use AI tools like Replit, Lovable, Bolt or Webflow, selecting the best fit for your project's needs regarding interactivity and speed. We are definitely open to using your preferred tool if it aligns with the project requirements and efficiency goals or tweak for new tools as they appear int he market.

  • How much does this service cost?

    Pricing depends on the estimated effort, which is determined by the complexity and scope defined after the Discovery Meeting and Prototype Definition stage. We typically offer project-based pricing to provide cost certainty or hourly rate, in case the client want to have more flexibility. The optional "Evaluative Research Package" is a separate add-on service and is priced based on the scope of the research (e.g., number of participants, moderation, research tool, etc). We can provide a tailored quote for one or both services after understanding your specific needs.

  • What can't I do with this prototype?

    It's crucial to remember this is for testing and validation. It won't connect to live databases, process real payments, have complex backend logic, or be deployable code but depending on the case and tool used, we can set it up as a temporary and your dev team can takeover later. But the main purpose is to simulate the user experience for feedback before you invest in full development.

  • Once I have the prototype and feedback, what are the next steps? Can you help with those?

    The prototype is your tool for validation! A highly recommended next step is utilizing our Optional Add-on: Prototype Evaluative Research Package. This provides structured usability testing with real users and delivers a clear report with actionable recommendations based on observed behavior and feedback. Following this research (or your own feedback gathering), the insights gained will guide design iterations (potentially another rapid prototype cycle) or inform the move towards detailed UI design and full development. We can discuss supporting these subsequent phases based on the validated findings.

What's included

  • A shareable, interactive prototype of your component, feature, product, website, or landing page.

    Delivered rapidly so you can test hypotheses and gather feedback from users, clients, or stakeholders early and often.

  • Usability Findings Report (Optional - Based on User Research)

    You will receive a comprehensive report that includes: - Executive Summary: Highlighting the most critical findings and overall impressions. - Key Findings: Detailed breakdown of usability issues discovered, categorized by severity (e.g., critical, major, minor) and supported by observational evidence or user quotes. - Positive Feedback: Insights into what aspects of the prototype resonated well with users. - Actionable Recommendations: Clear, prioritized suggestions for improving the prototype based directly on the research findings. - Participant Overview: Brief, anonymized summary of the participants involved. (Optional, depending on scope): Basic quantitative data like task completion rates.


Skills and tools

UX Designer

Bolt.new

Bolt.new

Figma

Figma

Lovable

Lovable

Replit

Replit

Webflow

Webflow