Concepts by Carolyn Snyder - paperprototyping.com
Paper prototyping is a variation of usability testing where representative users perform realistic tasks by interacting with a paper version of the interface that is manipulated by a person ‘playing computer,’ who doesn’t explain how the interface is intended to work.
Its purpose is to get quick feedback from users while the design is still (literally) "on the drawing board." Some paper prototypes are hand-drawn, while others use printed-out screen shots. What-if games can be played without a line of code being written.
Paper Prototyping Examples
Benefits of Paper Prototyping
Paper prototyping is cheap, inexpensive and doesn't cost much. It's also fast, expeditious and doesn't take much time either. Paper prototyping promptly reveals all the things you typically find in usability testing - confusing concepts, poor terminology, layout problems, lack of feedback, etc. Paper prototyping can separate the gotta-haves from the nice-to-haves.