What is Prototype?
The short answer
A prototype is a clickable simulation of a website or app used to test flows and interactions with real people before building the real thing.
What people say: “a clickable demo”.
Prototype, explained
Prototypes range from linked mockups in a design tool to coded demos. Their job is to find problems while they are still cheap to fix.
Questions people ask about Prototype
What is Prototype?
A prototype is a clickable simulation of a website or app used to test flows and interactions with real people before building the real thing.
Related terms
A mockup is a static, full-detail picture of a page as it will look, with real type, colour and imagery, but no working interactions.
Usability testingUsability testing is watching real people try to complete tasks on a site to find where they get stuck, confused or lost.
MVPAn MVP is the smallest version of a product that delivers real value and lets you learn from real users before investing in more.
UXUX, or user experience, is how it feels to use a website: whether people can find what they came for, understand it and finish what they started without friction.
Part of the Web Encyclopedia by Apex Flow Digital. Definitions are general knowledge, kept current, with no invented statistics.