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I love prototyping as a fast effective way to put a UI in front of a user.

Many times though, management get their beaks in the way, and the prototype is dragged kicking and screaming into main stream development.

How do you manage management into not doing this?

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Don't show the kids a shiny toy and they won't be able to play with it. Seriously, make it uglier, or something, make them NOT want it but still show what you're trying to express. – Michael Todd Jan 25 '11 at 15:00
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Accidentally, lose the code ;) – Pemdas Jan 25 '11 at 15:02
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Use your favorite non-mainstream programming language to write the prototype. If it doesn't work, at least you won't mind maintaining it as much. – Larry Coleman Jan 25 '11 at 17:59
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Yup, try to use Napkin Look and Feel napkinlaf.sourceforge.net – Job Jan 26 '11 at 17:06

3 Answers

up vote 20 down vote accepted

Use a tool like Microsoft SketchFlow, or make your prototype in some other language or platform, making it nearly impossible to integrate into main development.

There's also a joelonsoftware essay about showing screenshots and prototypes, where he makes unimplemented and unworked aspects appear obviously broken/unimplemented, making it clear where work still needs to be done.

Important Corollary Two. If you show a nonprogrammer a screen which has a user interface which is 100% beautiful, they will think the program is almost done.

...

What can you do about this? Once you understand the Iceberg Secret, it's easy to work with it. Understand that any demos you do in a darkened room with a projector are going to be all about pixels. If you can, build your UI in such a way that unfinished parts look unfinished. For example, use scrawls for the icons on the toolbar until the functionality is there. As you're building your web service, you may want to consider actually leaving out features from the home page until those features are built. That way people can watch the home page go from 3 commands to 20 commands as more things get built.

So, try making your prototypes in Photoshop instead of Visual Studio, or something along those lines.

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+1 because it's a wonderful tool – user2567 Jan 25 '11 at 15:06
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yeah, I like Balsamiq! – Ozz Jan 25 '11 at 15:06
+1 SketchFlow takes a brilliant approach to this common problem; make the UI look sketched. Black/white, drab...fantastic approach to solving these types of issues. Sounds simple yet has a tremendous effect on those who see the UI allowing them to understand that it is in fact a prototype. – Aaron McIver Jan 25 '11 at 15:13
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Good point. If it is a working application, then it isn't a prototype. – JohnFx Jan 25 '11 at 16:10
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You might try Pencil instead of SketchFlow. It's free: pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Home.aspx – Brad Jan 25 '11 at 16:42
up vote 4 down vote

Pretty simple really. Tell them that they would end up losing their favorite client if they end up putting this buggy mess for show.

And yeah, ask them to take their chances if they really know better.

Finally: Please don't say the prototype has specific bugs A, B and C. Then you'd be made to fix that bug, and management will claim they channelized energy into making software production ready.

Chances are with those performance bonuses and future stock grants these days, they will listen.

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up vote 4 down vote

Don't prototype with working code. Prototype with pencil and paper, or a software equivalent.

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+1: This! Every time I've prototyped something successfully using code, I've regretted it later when conditions forced me to use that code again it situations long past its intended expiry date. In other words... IF you use a production-code language to whip up a prototype, don't be too surprised if it later ends up in production code. – mummey Jan 25 '11 at 20:20
+1 for the Balsamiq link. I use it a lot and it's absolutely awesome. – Ryan Hayes Jan 26 '11 at 14:48

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