 So I want to dive into the details of what a prototype is and looks like. So prototypes can be static or interactive, as I mentioned before. If it's a static prototype, and we'll talk about this more in usability testing next week, but probably more something that you'll want to be with someone to like, you know, facilitate them through sort of navigating the specific resource. When it's an interactive prototype, there are different tools and ways that you can observe how someone is clicking through your prototype, right? And it helps to give insights around, are they finding the information? What are they clicking on? What's what's popping out to them? And prototypes can be used to test a variety of different things, such as the flow of information, right? How does it move from one screen to the next? The actual content of a page. So what Neyamu was saying, like the actual page itself and that flow of content on the page, the design and the actual layout, and also the interactions, you know, how our users invited to engage with a specific, you know, resource. And so a prototype can be a way to test some of these different things that you might be wanting to understand as you are diving into solutioning. So one of my favorite ways to do this is actually starting with paper prototypes. And so this is a little picture on the right hand side of one of the paper prototypes that I've made. And this is what we would call like a very low fidelity prototype. You can see that's hand drawn. Each index card is a screen. So, you know, you'd have your, in this example, there's sort of a map with different resources. If you click on a map, a pop up window would, you know, come up or a drawer and give information about, you know, that specific location that you selected. What's really nice about starting with a paper prototype is you also have a chance to wireframe, right? So each of these screens is also mocking up that content thinking about the layout, but using pen and paper, right? So really, you know, forcing the content first sort of process. And it also helps you think through the flow of information. So how do I actually get from this, from this screen to this screen or, you know, this card to this card? So mocking these things up helps to expose these other design considerations that we need to incorporate like a button, a button that brings you from one page to the next, which I always miss in a first design. And then I'm like, oh, how, how does the user actually go from this page to this page? And it's like, ah, I forgot a button, right? And then you can add the link that links the two pages together. So I highly recommend that, you know, you start with a paper prototype as a way to think through your solution. It's also nice because, you know, sort of inherent in an index card is a confined space, right? So you're working with these sort of, you know, built-in parameters, long ways, if it's an app landscape, if it's a desktop, and you can, you know, put a couple index cards together. I wanted to quickly share just, this was a project that I worked on a while ago, but just some initial sketches. So we see a user flow and some very light wireframes. But I wanted to share some photos of our paper prototype. So this is the paper prototype that we put together. And you can see it's not very beautiful, but it helped think through, you know, as users interact with these pages and as they move through this experience, what is the content that they're engaging with? And you can see with a paper prototype, the content is so important. There's not time to think about design embellishments, right? You really have to think, what information does the user need in order to take the right action? So I just wanted to share this as an example of a paper prototype that we created. This was our second iteration. So just, you know, bringing it to life a little more. Iteration is the name of the game in design. The first time you do it, it's never going to be perfect, but you can try it again. And each time you do it, you'll learn something new. Also just seeing that this is index cards and Sharpies, right? Take the daunting task of making things like beautiful and digital right away, like away, right? There's so much to think through before you even get to that place. And then here's a photograph of someone actually clicking through and going through our paper prototype. So if you're interested and you want to come back to these photos, this is linked in the deck. There's a couple resources that we wanted to share that can help create these interactive prototypes. So this might not be for this week or even next. But as you are able to do these iterations and bring your solution through wireframes and maybe through a paper prototype and you're feeling like you want to bring it into the digital space, there are so many resources that help to create these sort of interactive prototypes. And I will show an example in just a moment, but this is also another opportunity that simulates a live website experience without needing to code anything. So you're actually just taking your designs and creating what are called hotspots in this sort of metaphor where a page is linked to one another and you can actually simulate the experience of navigating through a website just with these specific tools. I want to give a shout out to some of the groups from last time actually used Google Slides or Slides PowerPoint to create their designs so that you could move from one page to the next. It's another great way to see how things progress from one to the next. So definitely feel free to leverage existing tools that you feel comfortable with and have access to. And if any of these other tools are interesting at the point where you're ready, definitely reach out. We'd be happy to do a tutorial or something like that, but know that these are available to you as you are bringing your designs to life. So a few things just to take us home. There's also really great ways to prototype experiences that aren't creating anything new. So an example of this is if you are thinking about building out an online application like a form, you could do this first sort of scaffold with Google Forms or Type Form or an existing tool that helps you kind of create what does this screener look like. So there's also ways to leverage existing tools to simulate that experience that you're trying to create. And a lot of things that you can learn from that without kind of diving into some of these other tools that we're sharing. So wherever possible, to leverage existing tools, definitely consider that. And if you're thinking that this might be an option for you and you want to talk through what some tools might be depending on your specific project or situation, that's definitely something that we can talk about in office hours as well. So in summary, I think prototypes will vary depending on the goals for your project, depending on what you're testing, how much you're testing. So maybe you're just focusing on a few pages that are going to be redesigned, maybe you're focusing on a flow. So it really depends on the sort of what you're testing, where you are in the design. So many of you hopefully will be able to do a paper prototype to start because you're just starting to bring these ideas to life as opposed to in a couple iterations from now, maybe being able to use some of the digital and interactive prototypes. So it's totally okay that these are meeting you where you're at. There's no right or wrong way to prototype. The really important thing to take away here is that these are opportunities to learn and bring your solution to life and get early feedback from your users directly. And that's what we'll dive into next week when Victoria does a lecture on usability testing and actually how to use a prototype in the context of usability testing.