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WorkflowCraft conventionFoundational

Prototyping Fidelity

Choosing how finished a prototype needs to look, which is decided by the question you are asking rather than by taste.

Definition

Fidelity is how closely a prototype resembles the finished product, and it varies independently across three dimensions: visual, content and interaction. Higher fidelity costs more and changes what feedback you get.

Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.

On this page
  1. Definition
  2. Match fidelity to the question
  3. Use real content as early as possible
  4. In practice
  5. Continue from here

Match fidelity to the question

QuestionFidelity needed
Is this structure right?Low visual, low interaction. A sketch or wireframe.
Can people find the thing?Low visual, real content. Content fidelity matters most here.
Does this flow work?Low visual, clickable. Enough interaction to complete the task.
Does this interaction feel right?High interaction, whatever visual level. Motion and gesture cannot be judged from a static frame.
Do people trust this?High visual. Perceived credibility is influenced by craft.
Will people buy it?High everything, ideally live traffic.

Use real content as early as possible

  • Lorem ipsum hides length problems, which then appear in production.
  • Placeholder names hide the cases that break name fields.
  • Empty and maximum states are invisible in a prototype with one perfect record.
  • Translated strings expand, and a prototype in English alone will not show it.

In practice

Paper before pixels

Early exploration

Sketches tested with five people will find structural problems faster than a week of high-fidelity work, and nobody becomes attached to a sketch.

Continue from here

Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.

Often used with

These usually appear in the same screen or the same decision.

Short definition

The one-paragraph version, for when that is all you need.

Related concept

Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.