Types of the Prototype

There are many types of the prototype here is ten of those types: -

1. A film (movie) prototype

Here a prototype is made using video just to show others the idea in a graphical/visual format.

    2. Feasibility Prototype

This type of prototype is usually developed to determine the feasibility of various solutions. It is applied to the resolve technical risks attached to the development in terms of performance, compatibility of components, etc.

   3. Horizontal Prototype

This is the user interface in the form of screenshots, demonstrating the outer layer of the human interface only, such as windows, menus, and screens. The prototype is used to clarify the scope and requirements of the product.

    4. Rapid Prototype

The rapid prototyping technique is used to quickly engineer an initial model of a product using a three-dimensional computer-aided design when you want to produce something in a short span.

   5. Simulations

The simulation prototype is digitally creating a physical product to predict the performance of the product in the real world.

  6. Storyboard

A storyboard describes a product in the form of a story and demonstrates a typical order in which information needs to be presented. It helps in determining useable sequences for presenting information

   7. Vertical Prototype

A vertical prototype is the back end of a product like a database generation to test the front end. It used to improve database design, test key components at early stages or showcase a working model, though unfinished, to check the key functions.

   8. Wireframe

This is a skeleton of a product. Depicted in the form of illustrations or schematics that capture an aspect of design such as an idea, layout, form, architecture or sequence.

   9. Animations

These are images drawn and put in a sequence that walks you through the proposed 3D structure of the product/solution.

  10. Mock-up

This is with no functionalities, just to get the overall visual of the product. It is an unpolished version of the product with no active features.

In conclusion, depending on what you are working on you will need to decide which prototype works best for you, often a number of these might need to be used into a working prototype.