Prototypes are built with the goal of testing. It usually works this way: you build a prototype, get feedback from your audience, validate ideas, and iterate. You build the product when your prototype feels ‘approved’.

So, how exactly do you test a prototype? Let’s find out in this guide.

What is Prototype Testing?

Prototype testing involves sharing your prototype — whether it’s a simple wireframe or an interactive version of your app — with your target audience and gathering feedback.

When testing your prototype, you can create tasks for users or ask them a set of questions. In addition, you can test your app idea beyond its functionality. You can also get feedback on the overall design and concept.

Why Does Prototype Testing Matter?

Prototypes are designed for testing and product validation. But why is prototype testing essential? Why can’t you dive into app development from the very start? Let’s understand why.

Understand what works and what doesn’t

Prototype testing is all about understanding how users interact with your product. It helps you know what works and what doesn’t.

The key to prototype testing is in observation. Instead of believing what users are saying, pay attention to what they’re doing. Honest feedback can help you identify your app’s areas that need to be refined.

Validate your concept with real users

Successful prototyping is less about features and bugs, but more about the bigger picture. You need to figure out if the app will still be good enough for users when it’s launched.

Ask yourself questions like:

Does it solve users’ problems the way they need it to be?
Does it include the necessary features and functionality users expect?
Does the prototype work exactly how users expect it to be?

Prototype testing helps you validate ideas and gather feedback in the early stages. Make sure to take ideas from your users. Sometimes, users can give you better ideas than the ones you may already have.

Identify and fix issues early on

Prototype testing is also a great way to identify and fix issues early, when your app is still lightweight. It can help reduce your app’s technical debt and expenses. This is especially important when you’re coding your app.

If you build your app prototype with Natively’s native app builder, you don’t need to code at all. Thus, you can make iterations whenever you want easily. With the platform, you can also scale your prototype into a real app.

How to Test Your App Prototype: 5 Simple Steps

App prototype testing — like any other type of product testing — can be extensive and time-consuming. However, here’s a basic step-by-step guide on how to test an app prototype.

1. Determine your goal

With any type of product testing, your first step is to know what you’re trying to understand. It is a crucial step to designing effective prototype tests.

Prototype testing is used particularly to validate the app concept, user flows, features, and design elements. At this step, you need to narrow down and clearly define what exactly you’re trying to validate.

You can answer these questions to make it easier:

Who are you going to be testing the prototype with?
What are your goals for this particular test?
When will the test start and end?
Where will you find the test participants?
Why is this test important to conduct? What impact does it make?
How will you design the test to achieve these goals?

2. Know your audience

Most of the time, you will choose your ideal customers for prototype testing. It can give you the most accurate results for next steps.

In case you’ve already launched a functional product, you can also test with current users. Since these users are familiar with how your app worked initially, their feedback is valuable. You can get sharp insights on redesigns, iterations, and new features.

But sometimes, the feedback may not be about the app’s functionality.

For instance, feedback from developers for technical aspects is more logical than from regular users. Similarly, investors can provide better insights on business decisions. Your goal defines who your testing audience is.

3. Choose a testing method

There are four major testing methods: Qualitative testing, quantitative testing, moderated tests, and unmoderated tests.

The method that’s suitable for your product depends on the test you’re running. For instance, testing a concept requires a different approach than testing which button converts better.

Here are several specific types of tests you can consider:

A/B testing: It allows you to compare two or more versions of a feature, an element, or a page to see which one performs better.
“Fake door” tests: It measures user interest by presenting a test feature in-app and seeing how many users click on it. When someone clicks on it, you can tell them the feature is forthcoming and add them to a beta testing group.
Heatmap testing: It allows you to visualize user behavior on app screens by showing where users scrolled, clicked, or interacted with an element.
Performance testing: It measures the app’s stability, speed, and responsiveness under different circumstances to ensure the app is scalable.
Card sorting: It’s a technique where users sort topics or screens of your app into groups. This can help you understand where users expect to find certain pages and thus, you can create a more intuitive design.
Usability testing: It involves assigning users certain tasks to perform and tracking if the product functions properly.
Accessibility testing: It involves tests to ensure your product is usable by people with disabilities or those with screen readers.
Session recordings: This one’s the simplest as you record users completing a task and then see where they click, how they navigate, where they pause, and so on.

Usability testing is also a crucial method to test prototypes. It can get your team the necessary feedback they need on the UI and UX of your prototype to design it further.

After the launch of your app’s V1, you can start chasing the faster user testing methods. These include A/B tests, heatmaps, and session recordings.

4. Pick a testing tool

Now that you’ve defined your audience, goals, and the testing method you’ll use, it’s time to find the right testing tools for it. The tool you choose depends on all the above factors.

Here’s our best picks for mobile app prototype testing:

UXCam — for heatmaps and behavior analytics
Adjust — for marketing campaign data
Mixpanel — for testing navigation flows and conversion-driving metrics
Amplitude — for product and user behavior analytics

5. Analyze and iterate

The last step is to analyze your test findings and iterate based on them. This is when you put your prototype testing to real use.

In addition to the data you collected, also consider the data that you weren’t expecting initially. For instance, notice if users didn’t complete a task the way you thought they would. Think on the non-conventional user flows.

Make prototype testing a continuous process in your team. Unlike one-time iterations, prototype and user testing are ongoing processes. It ensures that you don’t miss something that may make your app a success.

Build and Scale Apps with Natively

It could take months to build a functional prototype with tools like Figma. And if you’ve got an idea ready to work on, the traditional way isn’t feasible.

The good part is: Natively’s AI app builder can build a much better, functional prototype in almost no time. You can scale your app from the prototype itself. In simple words, you won’t need to rebuild the app from scratch.

If you build with Natively now, you can have your prototype in an hour. Start creating.