6 min read
From concept to prototype in three days
A behind-the-scenes look at my rapid prototyping process for client projects.
Process
Claire Smith
Senior UX Designer
I help teams ship products faster, with research backed design that keeps users coming back.
Day one: research and rough sketches
Speed does not mean cutting corners. It means cutting the right corners. The first day of any rapid prototype sprint is entirely about understanding the problem. I spend the morning in conversation with the client, unpacking goals, constraints, and user needs. The afternoon is for rough sketches on paper, not screens.
Paper sketches are fast, disposable, and honest. There is no temptation to polish a pixel-perfect layout when you are drawing with a marker. I aim for ten to fifteen rough concepts by the end of the day, knowing that most will be discarded. The goal is volume, not perfection.
Choosing the direction
Review sketches against the project brief and eliminate anything that does not directly serve the core goal
Cluster similar ideas and look for recurring themes that suggest a strong direction
Pick two or three concepts to carry forward into digital wireframes on day two
Days two and three: building and refining
Day two is for translating the strongest sketches into interactive wireframes. I work directly in Framer, building with real components and responsive layouts from the start. This avoids the common trap of designing something beautiful in a static tool only to discover it falls apart when it needs to flex across screen sizes.
The feedback loop
By midday on day two I share the prototype with the client. Early feedback is essential because it is much cheaper to change direction in a wireframe than in a polished design. I ask the client to interact with the prototype on their own device, watching how they navigate without guidance.
Day three is for refinement. Colour, typography, micro-interactions, and edge cases. By the end of the sprint, the client has a functional prototype they can click through, share with stakeholders, and use to validate their idea before committing to full development.
