Test the experience before you build it.

Prototyping closes the gap between a design that looks correct in isolation and a product that feels correct in use. A well-constructed interactive prototype can be usability-tested, shared with stakeholders for realistic feedback, and handed to developers as the reference for how interactions should behave.

At Nova Studio, prototyping serves a specific function: testing before building. The question we are trying to answer with every prototype is: does this experience make sense to a user who has not been in any of the briefing sessions? The people who design a product are the last people who can answer that question without structured testing.

For Standard and Studio projects, usability testing is conducted on the prototype before final design is approved. Three to five participants complete primary tasks while thinking aloud. Issues identified at this stage are fixed in Figma rather than in code, at a fraction of the cost.

Interaction design specifications — transitions, animation timings, micro-interactions, and loading state behaviours — are documented as part of the prototype handoff. Developers should not have to improvise these, because inconsistency in interaction design is one of the most visible signs of a product that was not fully designed.

In practice

Common questions