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Usability Glossary: horizontal and vertical prototypes


describes what types of capabilities are implemented in a prototype: horizontal prototypes display a wide range of features but without fully implementing all of those features; vertical prototypes do not attempt to show all that will be in a system but instead focus on implementing a small set of features in a nearly-complete fashion.

Horizontal prototypes are appropriate for understanding relationships across a broad system and for showing the range of abilities of a system.

Vertical prototypes are most appropriate when a certain complex feature of a system is poorly-understood and needs to be explored, e.g. as a proof-of-concept.

see also

high-fidelity prototype
low-fidelity prototype
prototyping
RAD
rapid prototyping

categories

Glossary Categories > Software Engineering > Prototyping
Glossary Categories > Usability Methods > Prototyping

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