What's wrong with the user interface: how rapid prototyping can help

The challenge for user interface designers is to produce user interfaces that are not only easy to use, but also compliant with emerging legislation. To meet this aim, designers must look at the way in which interfaces are currently produced. Even in the most iterative of design cycles, interfaces are rarely considered early enough in the design. Nor, when they are considered, is it always possible to design them in an optimum way. Typically, the interface will be constrained by both hardware and software decisions taken at a much earlier stage, limiting the interface design solutions. The author suggests that the key to producing usable interfaces is through a policy of test-retest, design-redesign. The cheapest, most practical method of producing a truly iterative approach to interface design is through rapid prototyping. That is, prototyping conducted at the earliest stages, with minimal effort, maximum speed and in the end, resulting in software that is thrown away. Rapid prototyping of user interfaces should provide the design team with an opportunity to explore the myriad of possibilities for delivering usability without involving the project in huge expense.<
>