Editing Prototype (section)

=== Prototyping for Human-Computer Interaction ===
When developing software or digital tools that humans interact with, a prototype is an artifact that is used to ask and answer a design question. Prototypes provide the means for examining design problems and evaluating solutions.<ref name="Houde 367–381">{{Citation|last1=Houde|first1=Stephanie|title=Chapter 16 – What do Prototypes Prototype?|date=1997-01-01|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444818621500820|work=Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction (Second Edition)|pages=367–381|editor-last=Helander|editor-first=Marting G.|place=Amsterdam|publisher=North-Holland|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-044481862-1.50082-0|isbn=978-0-444-81862-1|access-date=2021-12-13|last2=Hill|first2=Charles|s2cid=18520479 |editor2-last=Landauer|editor2-first=Thomas K.|editor3-last=Prabhu|editor3-first=Prasad V.|citeseerx=10.1.1.224.2119}}</ref>

[[Human-computer interaction]] (HCI) practitioners can employ several different types of prototypes:
* '''"Wizard of Oz" prototype:''' named after the [[Wizard of Oz (character)|Wizard of Oz]] in the film [[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|''The Wizard of Oz'']]. This is a prototyping method with which the computer-side of the interaction is faked by an offsite or hidden human.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wizard of Oz Prototypes|url=https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/wizard-of-oz-prototypes|access-date=2021-12-13|publisher=The Interaction Design Foundation|language=en}}</ref> This prototyping technique is particularly useful for demonstrating functionality that is difficult or lengthy to engineer, such as applications like [[voice user interface]]. 
* '''role prototype''': this prototype may not be engineered or look and feel like a finished product, but the purpose of this type of prototype is to investigate and evaluation a user need, or what the prototype could do for the user. They can present features and functionality that the user might benefit from, to demonstrate what role an artifact like the prototype might fulfill for the user.<ref name="Houde 367–381"/> A famous example of this kind of prototype would be the block of wood carried by [[Jeff Hawkins]], when developing the [[PalmPilot|Palm Pilot]].
* '''[[Paper prototyping|paper prototype]]:''' this prototype may use cut paper, cardboard, or other inexpensive materials to demonstrate an interface. The purpose of this prototype is to test with users, without having to use a digital tool or develop a program to test functionality.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rettig|first=Marc|date=April 1994|title=Prototyping for tiny fingers|journal=Communications of the ACM|language=en|volume=37|issue=4|pages=21–27|doi=10.1145/175276.175288|s2cid=9934034 |issn=0001-0782|doi-access=free}}</ref> Recently, paper prototyping has fallen out of favor within certain design circles, particularly because the low-fidelity nature of this method and the lack of effectiveness when testing with users.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Knapp|first=Jake|date=2016-01-06|title=Paper prototyping is a waste of time|url=https://library.gv.com/paper-prototyping-is-a-waste-of-time-353076395187|access-date=2021-12-13|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref>