Prototyping is the process of building a quick, often simplified version of a product to test ideas, gather feedback, and spot issues before going full steam ahead.
The term comes from “prototype,” meaning a first or early version of something. In design, development, or product creation, prototyping is how you turn a concept into something tangible — not fully functional, but real enough to poke, prod, and improve. It’s a key step in Design Thinking, UX design, and agile product teams.
Let’s say you’re designing a new food delivery app. Your first prototype might be just a series of sketches or clickable screens that show how a user would order. It might not connect to real restaurants or process payments — that’s not the point. The goal is to learn fast: What’s confusing? What feels good? What needs fixing? Prototypes save time, money, and headaches.
Prototyping can be low-fi (paper, sticky notes, Figma mockups) or high-fi (interactive tools, coded demos). What matters is getting ideas out of your head and into the world — fast.
Check out Figma’s prototyping guide to see how it’s done in practice.
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