Prototyping

We can make the top-down design process more interactive, fun and even effective by introducing prototyping to the design process.

Weakness of top-down design

Top-down design struggles the more unfamiliar you are with the type of thing that you are building.

Ironically (and unfortunately), when you are most confused or in the dark, top-down design can be the least helpful method.

OK, go down and build it

Prototyping breaks the strict top-down design process by saying, "if you don't quite get it, build a little bit of it"...

Characteristics of the prototype:

	Incomplete
	Not too long or expensive to do... "quick and dirty"
	Explore just the concepts you are trying to understand

Example

In a the business plan of a new venture, we may not understand how a certain facet of the business will proceed.

To understand and better describe a certain area in our plan, we may build a prototype of that aspect.

Then, come back up to your plan

With your prototype in hand, you must come back to your project plan, update, and continue your top-down process.

Continuing directly from a prototype is:

	Treacherous because lack of planning can mean you are building the wrong thing or building it poorly.
	Called "Bottom-Up Design"

How does this apply to Web Design