<s>
In	O
human	O
–	O
computer	O
interaction	O
,	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
a	O
widely	O
used	O
method	O
in	O
the	O
user-centered	O
design	O
process	O
,	O
a	O
process	O
that	O
helps	O
developers	O
to	O
create	O
software	O
that	O
meets	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
expectations	O
and	O
needs	O
–	O
in	O
this	O
case	O
,	O
especially	O
for	O
designing	O
and	O
testing	O
user	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
seems	O
simple	O
,	O
this	O
method	O
of	O
usability	O
testing	O
can	O
provide	O
useful	O
feedback	O
to	O
aid	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
easier-to-use	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
started	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
and	O
then	O
became	O
popular	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1990s	O
,	O
when	O
companies	O
such	O
as	O
IBM	O
,	O
Honeywell	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
,	O
started	O
using	O
the	O
technique	O
in	O
developing	O
their	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
used	O
widely	O
in	O
user-centered	O
design	O
by	O
usability	O
professionals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
recently	O
,	O
digital	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
has	O
been	O
advocated	O
by	O
companies	O
like	O
Pidoco	B-Protocol
due	O
to	O
advantages	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
collaboration	O
,	O
flexibility	O
,	O
and	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
saves	O
time	O
and	O
money	O
,	O
since	O
it	O
enables	O
developers	O
to	O
test	O
product	O
interfaces	O
(	O
from	O
software	O
and	O
websites	O
to	O
cell	O
phones	O
and	O
microwave	O
ovens	O
)	O
before	O
they	O
write	O
code	O
or	O
begin	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
allows	O
the	O
entire	O
creative	O
team	O
to	O
be	O
involved	O
in	O
the	O
process	O
,	O
which	O
eliminates	O
the	O
chance	O
of	O
someone	O
with	O
key	O
information	O
not	O
being	O
involved	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
benefit	O
of	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
that	O
users	O
feel	O
more	O
comfortable	O
being	O
critical	O
of	O
the	O
mock-up	O
because	O
it	O
does	O
n't	O
have	O
a	O
polished	O
look	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
different	O
methods	O
of	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
,	O
each	O
of	O
them	O
showing	O
several	O
benefits	O
regarding	O
the	O
communication	O
within	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
being	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
,	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
can	O
serve	O
as	O
a	O
visual	O
specification	O
of	O
the	O
graphical	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
–	O
and	O
by	O
this	O
means	O
,	O
assure	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prototyping	O
forces	O
a	O
more	O
complete	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
to	O
be	O
captured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
a	O
quick	O
way	O
to	O
generate	O
digital	O
ideas	O
by	O
sketching	O
on	O
paper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
usually	O
the	O
preferred	O
tool	O
to	O
generate	O
ideas	O
visually	O
and	O
to	O
evaluate	O
them	O
within	O
the	O
team	O
and	O
with	O
target	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
current	O
stage	O
of	O
development	O
,	O
a	O
paper	B-Application
prototype	I-Application
may	O
not	O
be	O
the	O
best	O
choice	O
for	O
conveying	O
the	O
proposed	O
design	O
ideas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
should	O
only	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
beginning	O
stages	O
of	O
the	O
design	O
process	O
–	O
typically	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
form	O
of	O
prototype	O
created	O
–	O
since	O
minimal	O
functionality	O
can	O
actually	O
be	O
expressed	O
on	O
paper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
help	O
flesh	O
out	O
ideas	O
,	O
encourage	O
experimentation	O
with	O
unconventional	O
designs	O
,	O
and	O
provide	O
rapid	O
feedback	O
on	O
basic	O
usability	O
–	O
but	O
ultimately	O
,	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
would	O
not	O
serve	O
as	O
sufficient	O
products	O
to	O
present	O
to	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
large	O
drawback	O
of	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
is	O
the	O
level	O
of	O
imagination	O
required	O
from	O
test	O
participants	O
in	O
interpreting	O
how	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
all	O
interactions	O
are	O
being	O
staged	O
by	O
a	O
facilitator	O
during	O
paper	B-Application
prototype	I-Application
testing	O
sessions	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
potential	O
for	O
the	O
feedback	O
to	O
be	O
skewed	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lastly	O
,	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
can	O
only	O
be	O
tested	O
in	O
person	O
,	O
since	O
test	O
participants	O
are	O
instructed	O
to	O
physically	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
prototype	O
by	O
pretending	O
to	O
"	O
press	O
"	O
on	O
buttons	O
or	O
moving	O
components	O
around	O
to	O
simulate	O
how	O
the	O
website	O
would	O
change	O
after	O
an	O
action	O
has	O
been	O
taken	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
increasingly	O
digitized	O
world	O
and	O
a	O
movement	O
toward	O
remote	O
work	O
,	O
this	O
poses	O
an	O
obstacle	O
for	O
conducting	O
paper	B-Application
prototype	I-Application
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
should	O
be	O
considered	O
when	O
the	O
following	O
is	O
true	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
important	O
areas	O
of	O
application	O
of	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
are	O
the	O
following	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
applications	O
of	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
brainstorming	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
,	O
to	O
collect	O
and	O
visualize	O
ideas	O
on	O
how	O
an	O
interface	O
might	O
look	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
usability	O
testing	O
with	O
real	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
such	O
a	O
test	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
performs	O
realistic	O
tasks	O
by	O
interacting	O
with	O
the	O
paper	B-Application
prototype	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
techniques	O
of	O
paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
used	O
for	O
usability	O
testing	O
are	O
compositions	O
(	O
comps	O
)	O
,	O
wireframes	O
,	O
and	O
storyboards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
three	O
techniques	O
are	O
useful	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
turned	O
into	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Especially	O
in	O
web	O
design	O
,	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
examine	O
the	O
illegibility	O
of	O
a	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
also	O
the	O
recommended	O
design	O
testing	O
technique	O
in	O
the	O
contextual	B-General_Concept
design	I-General_Concept
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
applying	O
general	O
and	O
wide	O
paper	B-Application
prototypes	I-Application
,	O
the	O
information	O
architecture	O
of	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
software	O
or	O
a	O
web	O
site	O
can	O
be	O
tested	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paper	B-Application
prototyping	I-Application
is	O
often	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
step	O
of	O
rapid	B-Device
prototyping	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rapid	B-Device
prototyping	I-Device
involves	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
designers	O
who	O
each	O
create	O
a	O
paper	B-Application
prototype	I-Application
and	O
test	O
it	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
this	O
is	O
done	O
,	O
the	O
designers	O
share	O
their	O
feedback	O
and	O
ideas	O
,	O
at	O
which	O
point	O
each	O
of	O
them	O
creates	O
a	O
second	O
prototype	O
–	O
this	O
time	O
using	O
presentation	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
