Provide a System for Test Users to Use
Different kinds of prototypes
can be used for testing.
- The user-interface prototype should implement the actions that are
needed to complete the task.
- Some restrictions (like filenames you can use) are acceptable.
Although it may be a bit annoying you can tell the user:
"OK, you typed 'apple.text' but let's just assume for now that you
typed 'orange.html' and continue".
- When the user makes an error you may provide a preliminary error message
instead of performing the wrong action.
This incompleteness of the interface of course means you cannot yet
test how the user would recover from the error.
- Parts of the system that are not yet functional should be replaced by
a throw-away module that does something (maybe only provide a message).
When a user-interface is prototyped using a GUI builder, you normally
end up with a horizontal prototype in which all user actions have
no effect. You should provide some minimal functionality so
users never experience that an action like pressing a button has no effect.