In fact, the terms, “high fidelity” and “low fidelity”, were firstly used in rock music to describe the sound and playing skills of the rock and roll at the end of the 1980s. As the years go by, they are also applied in web/app design to refer to the different levels of details and functionality built into a prototype.
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However, what are the actual differences between them, how and why should we choose the high or low fidelity prototype for a better design or user research?
In the following, I will walk you through the basics and differences lying in the high fidelity and low fidelity, and explain why and how to choose them to make excellent prototypes for a better design or user research.
Table of Contents:
First, What Is a Prototype?
'A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. How to run apple music app on a mac. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming.' ---- from Wikipedia.
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When it comes to UI/UX design, a prototype helps designers translate their design ideas into a digital and tangible model. They can direclty test parts or all of the UIs, interactions and UX flows to see whether they are workable and excutable.
Moreover, since the needs of teams vary, they also make the low fidelity prototype or high fidelity prototype to test their design ideas for different purposes.
What Is a Low Fidelity Prototype?
The low-fidelity prototype - known as low-tech, low-fi or lo-fi prototype, is a semi-finished prototype that focuses on function, structure, process, and provides the simplest framework and elements of a web/app. It’s often used to translate design ideas into testable and tangible artifacts for collecting and analyzing the user demands at the early stage.
Then, What Is a High Fidelity Prototype?
The high-fidelity prototype - known as high-tech, high-fi or hi-fi prototype, is a comprehensive and interactive prototype that is quite close to the final products with lots of functions, interactions and details. It’s often used in the later usability evaluation to discover the potential issues that a web/app design may still exist.
Difference Between High Fidelity and Low Fidelity Prototype
Still don’t know the differences between low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes? Don’t worry! Here are 3 real low-fidelity prototype examples to help you learn more about low-fi prototypes:
1. Low Fidelity Motion Prototype Example
This low-fi prototype shows the second menu motions clearly without focusing too much on its UI details.
2. Low Fidelity UX Prototype Example for a Website Builder
This low fidelity UX prototype presents the page layouts, navigation systems and user flows of interactions clearly without too much UI details. It helps designers test assumptions and find invisible UX issues quickly.
No sound on mac. 3.Lo-fi Prototype Example Tender
This is another good example (created in Mockplus, an easier faster and smarter prototyping tool) to show the main layouts and element placements of an app. Even without element details, it helps designers detect and tackle potential problems at an earlier stage.
See it? Even without UI details, the low-fi prototype helps convey design ideas and show the main functions, structures, flows and interactions of a web/app easily. It brings designers lots of benefits.
Clarify Advantages Mac ApplicationsAdvantages of low fidelity prototypes:
Disadvantages of low fidelity prototypes:
So, if you only get some design ideas, want to present them with a simple prototype, discuss and collaborate with other designers or team members before digging in, a low fidelity prototype is perfect for you.
And then, here are 3 real high-fidelity prototype examples to help you learn more about high-fi prototypes:
1. Job List High Fidelity Prototype Example
This high fidelity prototype not only shows the UI details, but also displays user flows and interactions clearly. Designers can easily check and test very tiny detail to see whether there are still some UI/UX problems.
2. High Fidelity Prototype Example
3. Product Design High Fidelity Prototype Example
A high-fidelity prototype allows you to convey design ideas with rich colors, buttons, photos, icons, animations, interactions and more details.
Advantages of high-fidelity prototypes:
![]() Disadvantages of high-fidelity prototypes:
So, a high-fidelity prototype is highly functional and interactive for you and your team to find and tackle some tiny UI/UX problems, as well as getting more stockholders and clients at the very ending design stage.
How and Why to Choose Hi-fi or Low-fi Prototype for a Better Design?
As we’ve mentioned above, since the high fidelity and low fidelity play a very different role in creating successful designs, you’d better also use them for different purchases or at different design stages:
1.Why is a low fidelity prototype better for you at the early design stage?
Obviously, the low fidelity prototype focuses more on high-level concepts of the final products and help discover the potential issues as well as getting them resolved at the very early stage.
It helps ensure that you and your team have chosen and followed the right design theme and direction before digging in.
So, at the early design stage, when you and your team are aiming at quickly translating ideas into visualized prototypes, shortening iterations and collecting user feedback, a low fidelity prototype is a much better choice.
Briefly speaking, when is the right time to use a low-fi prototype?
2. Why is high fidelity prototyping better for you at the very ending design stage?And then, since the high fidelity prototype often pays much attention to the details and functions of a web/app, it is often better for designers to test the feasibility of web/app designs and attract more users/stakeholders at the very ending design stage.
Briefly speaking, when is the best time to use a high-fi prototype?
How to Choose a Right Prototyping Tool for a Better Design?
No matter whether you choose a high fidelity or low fidelity prototype, the only purpose is to present your fantastic design ideas more vividly and build excellent web/app prototypes, right? If your answer is “Yes”, the next step for you is to choose a right prototyping tool.
But still don’t know how? Here are several tips for your references:
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Overall, I hope these tips can help you choose a right tool.
3 Best Low Fidelity Prototyping Tools
Here are 3 best low fidelity prototyping tools for your references:
1. Paper and pens
With the fastest and simple tool, pens and paper will help draw your ideas easily and quickly, and also facilitate the internal discussion between the team members. Even if I sometimes need to use prototyping software to draw, I usually prefer to use pens and paper to clarify my ideas first.
Pros:
Cons:
2. Mockplus
Mockplus is a powerful low-fidelity prototyping tool that gets much attention in recent years. It allows you to translate design ideas into interactive prototypes, test, share and iterate them with ease. Its team collaboration and management feature also helps improve your work efficiency effortlessly.
Pros:
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Cons:
3. Balsamiq mockups
Basamiq is a simple low-fidelity prototyping tool that allows you to sketch your design ideas on a whiteboard directly. It is really useful when you only focus on the structures and overall concept of your design.
Cons:
Cons:
2 Best High Fidelity Prototyping Tools1. Marvel App
Marvel app is a powerful high-fidelity prototyping tool that supports creating wireframes, prototypes and mockups collaboratively online. It allows you to directly upload images(including the JPF, GIF and PSD) and add animations for them to create interactive prototypes quickly.
2. Mockplus iDoc
Mockplus iDoc is a professional online design collaboration tool that allows product managers, designers and developers to work together online with auto specs, assets and code snippets.
It is also used as an all-in-one high-fidelity prototyping tool. You can easily upload designs with assets and spec details from Sketch/PS/Adobe XD, and add rich interaction commands to create interactive and high-fidelity prototypes.
For a product team, the newly created prototype can also be shared with one link and get feedback in real-time.
In short, these days, to attract far more users, many prototyping tools are created to meet the needs of users as many as possible. There seems no clear boundary between a low-fi and high-fi prototyping tool.
So, to choose a right prototyping tool, it is best for you and your team to take more tool options for testing.
Clarify Advantages Mac App DownloadWrap Up
No matter what the differences the low fidelity and high fidelity prototyping are, how and why you will choose low fidelity or high fidelity prototyping for a better design or user research, a good prototyping tool, like the easier and faster one, Mockplus, often means a lot for you to create an excellent web/app with beautiful interfaces and good user experiences. Hope this article can inspire you anyway.
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Pull-Down Menus
In iOS 14 and later, a button can display a pull-down menu that lists items or actions from which people can choose. You can use a pull-down menu — or simply menu — to offer items that are directly related to the button's action or to provide a list of actions that are useful in the current context.
Menus offer several advantages over action sheets, context menus, and popovers. For example:
For developer guidance, see UIMenu.
Don't put every action in a menu. Menus let you offer a range of items without cluttering your interface, but putting every action in a menu means that people have to tap at least twice to do anything. Continue to put the most important actions in your main interface and use menus to offer supplementary items. For example, composing a new message is the most common action people take in Messages, so the Compose button is prominently featured in the main interface. To give people a convenient set of editing options, Messages attaches a menu to the Edit button instead of displaying the options in the main interface.
Use a menu to present options that are directly related to an action. A menu lets you give people a way to clarify an action's target or customize its behavior without adding buttons to the main interface. For example:
Use a menu to provide secondary app actions. If your app includes essential actions that don't belong in the main interface, you can group these actions in a menu. For example, Files uses a menu to provide actions — like adding a folder or scanning a document — in addition to options for viewing and sorting the content.
Consider adding a More button to display a menu. A More button integrates well with most interfaces, and people generally understand that it provides access to additional functionality. You can create a More button by placing the ellipsis symbol within a circular button (see SF Symbols to learn more about symbols). Alternatively, you can let people reveal a menu by performing a specific gesture on an existing button. For example, in iOS 14 and later, Safari responds to a touch and hold gesture on the tabs button by displaying a menu of tab-related actions like New Tab and Close All Tabs.
Use separators to visually group related menu items. Creating visual groupings can help people scan a menu more quickly. For example, the More menu in the Files app uses separators to help people distinguish actions that affect the content from items related to viewing and sorting. Using more than about three groups in a menu can make it seem difficult to parse.
Let people know when a menu item is destructive, and ask them to confirm their intent. Menus use red text to highlight actions that you identify as potentially destructive. When people choose a destructive action, the system displays an action sheet (iOS) or popover (iPadOS) in which they can confirm their choice or cancel the action. Because an action sheet appears in a different location from the menu and requires deliberate dismissal, it can help people avoid losing data by mistake.
Include a glyph with a menu item when it provides value. If you need to clarify an item's meaning, you can display a glyph or image after its title. Using an SF symbol for this purpose can help you provide a familiar experience while ensuring that the symbol remains aligned with the text at every scale.
Display a menu title if it adds meaning. In most cases, people understand the context of a menu's items because the menu appears instantly when they tap a button to perform an action. If necessary, you can provide a succinct title to display at the top of a menu.
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