Prototyping

How real does the prototype need to be

Clickable screens are enough for most reviews. Conditional logic, variables and real data are needed for usability testing that means something.

Buying the heavier tool for a slide-deck prototype wastes the licence and the learning time.

Sharing and testing

Public links, password protection, comments and whether the viewer needs an account. If you test with customers, that last one decides your response rate.

Where it meets design

Some tools prototype the same file you designed in. Others import it and drift out of date. The import route costs a re-export on every change.

What to check

Build the one flow with the awkward state: an error, an empty list, a slow load. That is where prototype tools stop being equal.