Is Prototyping Necessary?

Interaction Design January 15, 2008

Many web designers stress the need for heavy site prototyping and planning before the actual coding happens. That is, they sit down and after outlining the information architecture, plan the design with all the images and colors, etc.

Personally, I find that process rather tedious and time-consuming. My method is to simply start with a really simple layout, build the basic code and get some links working. Then once the basic site is setup, it's time to go in and add tweaks. I'm the kind of person who is continually improving things. I'm usually never satisfied with something and can probably always find little things to change here and there.

Hence, when I'm making a new website, one of the reason why I make it so fast is because I don't think much about the design other than what is needed. Yes, this tends to lead to very clean and sleek designs because it's simple and fast. But later, I can go and add more details if I feel like it.

The point is that I don't want to overthink the design. That's the worst thing that can happen to a web designer. If you put too much thought into the design and not enough into the functionality, you become an artist: form over function. But we're designers - that means we put function first. So I like to set up a decent and simple interface and then work on all the functionality (AJAX, Javascript, PHP, MySQL database design, etc.).

Once I feel comfortable in the site's functionality, I'll sleep on it and use it for a few days and undoubtedly will come up with improvements for the layout.

Function over form can entice users and make them keep coming back. The interface should always be intuitive yet unobtrusive. A flashy-designed site with poor functionality can have the reverse effect, driving users away. Making it simple both in form and function is the real trick.

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