UX Prototyping for complex products
UX Prototyping for complex products
UX Prototyping for complex products
UX Prototyping is the translation of concepts into tangible artifacts before they enter development. A prototype is a testable model of a solution — from simple wireframes to clickable interaction prototypes to high-fidelity simulations that visually and functionally represent the final product. The core benefit: assumptions about usage flows, information architecture, and interface logic are tested before implementation ties up development budgets. Errors identified in the prototype cost a fraction of what they would post-launch.
Splore develops prototypes for companies whose products are used in complex professional contexts — specialized applications, control systems, medical technology. The prototypes are derived from research insights: observed needs and documented pain points are translated into concepts and then into processes that can be evaluated by professionals before a single line of code is written. This is 'Designing the Right Thing' in the literal sense: checking if the right thing is being built before implementation begins.
Why Prototyping
Product teams in complex B2B environments make implementation decisions under uncertainty: Is the planned workflow understandable? Does the information architecture reflect how professionals actually work? Are the assumptions about usage frequency and sequence correct?
A prototype makes these questions negotiable. Instead of discussing specification documents, participants experience the planned process. This changes the quality of the decision: problems that remain abstract in the document become obvious in the prototype. The team sees where the process stalls, where information is missing, where the operating logic contradicts the work reality.
Prototyping is particularly worthwhile before costly implementation decisions: before a redesign, before the introduction of new product areas, before migrating to a new platform.
From Insight to Concept
Between research and prototyping lies a step that is often overlooked: concept development. Research provides findings — observed needs, documented pain points, substantiated assumptions. But findings alone are not a solution. The conceptual step translates insights into viable concepts: solution approaches that bring together user needs, business goals, and technical reality.
Only when a concept is established does interaction design begin — the translation into processes, screens, and prototypes. The prototype thus not only tests whether a user interface works but whether the underlying concept itself holds. This is the difference between 'looks usable' and 'solves the right problem'. Skipping this step means prototyping assumptions instead of concepts — and realizing it only during development.
From Wireframe to Interaction Prototype
The level of detail of a prototype depends on the question at hand.
**Wireframes and structural sketches** show structure and information hierarchy without visual design. They are suitable for early decisions: which content belongs on which screen, how is the navigation structured, what steps does a workflow include? Wireframes are quickly created and quickly discarded, which is precisely their advantage.
**Clickable prototypes** make processes tangible. Participants click through the planned workflow and experience transitions, error states, and branches. This stage is the most common use of prototyping at Splore: detailed enough for reliable statements, lean enough for quick adjustments.
**High-fidelity simulations** largely replicate the final product visually and in interaction logic. They are suitable for situations where the visual context influences the usage decision, such as in specialized applications with dense data visualization.
Prototype in the Product Process
The prototype connects two phases: research insights provide the foundation — what do users need, where do errors occur, which assumptions are substantiated? The prototype translates these insights into an experiential form that in the product team is evaluated and iterated. Whether the design answers the posed question is revealed in the evaluative testing with users — where it is observed how professionals interact with the prototype, and the results flow into the next iteration.
At the end of this cycle is a validated design. From here, the path leads to systematic design — from the proven prototype emerge components, patterns, and documented decisions that endure beyond the individual feature.
Where strategic directional decisions are concerned, the prototype also serves as a vehicle for the Product Vision: a tangible future image that aligns teams and stakeholders towards a common goal.
Example Projects
Krones: Control Concepts for the Connected HMI
Splore developed clickable control concepts for Krones' central machine control. New control processes were made tangible as prototypes and iterated within the development team.
Siemens Healthineers: Prototypes for Clinical Workflows
Splore translated clinical requirements into interactive prototypes for specialized findings, diagnosis, and therapy workflows. The prototypes made complex control processes tangible before technical implementation began.
Honic: UX Concepts for a HealthTech Platform
Tangible UX concepts and designs for validation in short cycles, as a decision-making basis for the team and investors. This makes the vision clear and understandable for management.
Talk to us about your prototyping project
Talk to us about your prototyping project
Are you facing an implementation decision and want to review the planned process before development starts? We will look at your project and propose the solution that fits — with the appropriate level of fidelity.
FAQ
A wireframe shows the structure and layout of a screen — which content is where, how the navigation works. A prototype makes processes tangible: participants click through a workflow and experience transitions, states, and branches. Wireframes are often the starting point from which clickable prototypes emerge.
As soon as an implementation decision is pending, where the costs would be high in case of error. Typical occasions: a redesign, the introduction of new product areas, a platform change. The more expensive the implementation, the more a design tested early saves.
Yes. In many projects, we develop prototypes iteratively with users from the target group — design, test, adjust, repeat. This way, the appropriate solution emerges faster than if design and testing were separate phases. Methods and approach of validation are described on the UX Research page.