What Is Rapid Prototyping in Web Design? Everything Unlocked

The idea of “Fake It Until You Make It” is well known to everyone. But it has been taken very seriously in several business industries. Many industries are now investing in Prototyping so that they can get a real idea about how the end product will look like. What is rapid prototyping? Rapid Prototyping in Web design is all about creating a sample, called a prototype, that will function exactly similar to the final output. It is the quickest way to test a final product even before starting the work on it. Any change, innovation, functionality, look and feel everything is more likely to be done in its prototype stage. But what if it is considered only for the Web Design and Development industry? 

By the end of this article, you’ll have a complete understanding of rapid prototype in web design. and how it works?

To understand rapid prototyping in Web Design you need to first understand what is a prototype? And how is it different from Rapid prototyping? 

A simple prototype is a model of any product that is yet to be built.

Rapid prototyping is based on CAD (Computer-Aided Design) systems with minimal machinery usage. All you need to have is a computer and some Prototyping tools for rapid prototyping. In Traditional prototypes, a large number of machines are equipped to create a sample that takes time in a month. Rapid Prototyping is faster and comparatively takes less time. 

Now, When you Understand the difference between prototyping and rapid prototype, let’s dive further into rapid prototyping.

Rapid prototyping is the process of creating a model or sample of a product even before the product goes for final approval. Rapid prototyping in web designing goes with making a prototype of a product with the established assumption that the final development of the page, app, or website will look, work, and behave similarly to the prototype. 

Rapid Prototype is mostly used in places where identical results are needed in the given time frame. Although Prototyping is heavily used in the manufacturing industry only, but here we are talking about the web design and development Industry. 

Rapid prototyping enables a developer to gain a more complete picture of how a product will look or perform in the early stage of the design and manufacturing cycle. Depending on the methods used, rapid prototype can take some time, but obviously less than traditional prototyping. It lets designers present the idea to the board of members about any new web projects that are yet to be developed by developers.

1. To present ideas to the board of members
2. To Show functionality and interaction
3. Detect errors earlier to save time
4. Cost-saving by not utilizing full resources
5. It lets to do Multiple testing 

 And so on.

The process of rapid prototyping is Simple but requires lots of planning and implementation strategy in order to work efficiently.

Brainstorming is the first thing that a designer needs to do before creating a product prototype. This is the initial stage where failure will be a part of the process. In brainstorming the web designer needs to get creative with his ideas, choice of color, and design of the entire web. Brainstorming is the very basic yet most influencing and decidable factor of Rapid Prototyping.

The second stage in the process of rapid prototyping is the initial product design and creation from scratch using computer software. All the work is being done digitally. It goes with detailing to each and every important menu, bar, navigation icon, section, and so on. Several prototyping tools such as sketch,, Figma, InVision Studio, Adobe XD, Webflow, Axure RP 9, and Origami Studio, etc. are used for this purpose. 

After creating the product design in the respective software, the design is being refined several times to get the optimum level of output. The design is changed and modified several times to get the best prototype for further use. This stage is important as this is the final step before presenting the prototype to the authorities where it will go through the selection process.

The Final stage of Rapid Prototyping is the Review and approval stage. At this stage, the mock is tested for the user journey, user behavior, User experience, and functionality. If there’s any lack, the prototype is sent back to the designer. On the other hand, if the Product prototype is good then it is approved and sent to the project manager developers to start the development process. 

Rapid prototyping helps in getting the idea of what your user really wants instead of just guessing. There are several tools used for rapid prototyping, among all, the most common tools are listed below:

• InVision: Invision is a rapid prototyping tool that does make all the rapid prototyping work easy and effective. It can be integrated with other software such as Photoshop or Sketch, that automatically syncs as you update your file.
• Framer: Another most used software for rapid prototyping in web design is a framer. It comes pre-loaded with advanced features of vector editing toolkit, frame shapes, bitmaps, animations, transitions, and comprehensive UI. 
• Adobe XD: With Adobe XD You can test concepts and validate your ideas. Auto animate, voice prototype, components and states, and device preview are some of its notable features among many.  
• Origami Studio: Origami studio enables the web designer to get a perfect dynamic layout, canvas interface, quick interactions, Figma & Sketch support, and a ton of performance improvements and patches for efficient rapid prototype. 
• Marvel: Marvel is another most loved tool by web designers investing themselves in rapid prototyping. The intuitive design and advanced prototyping feature help in crafting the prototyping idea on the screen. It Instantly generates design specs and connects integrations to power up the entire rapid prototype work. 
• Axure: Axure is known to build realistic and functional prototypes for web designs. It provides a truly digital experience with unlimited combinations of event triggers, conditions, and actions, and dynamic content to enhance the digital experience. 
• Webflow: It’s a fantastic web design tool used for rapid prototyping. It’s worth can be known by this fact only that it has been embraced by companies such as IDEO, Adobe, MTV & Nasa.