The use of paper-prototyping in a low-fidelity usability study

The Usability Laboratory at the US Census Bureau participated in the redesign effort for the American FactFinder Web site. The Web site was undergoing a major redesign in anticipation of receiving the data from the 2010 Census and making the data available to the public. To obtain user feedback on the conceptual design, the team used the technique of paper prototyping in a low-fidelity usability study. The low-fidelity study identified user problems, and the team was able to implement design recommendations quickly and easily. This article highlights the benefits of paper prototyping in low-fidelity usability testing.