What Is Low Fidelity?

Key takeaways

Low-fidelity prototypes provide users with a basic understanding of a product or concept and are easier to make changes to before production.

• Featuring only basic yet essential design components, low-fidelity wireframes are great for testing ideas before committing to high-fidelity prototypes.

• Paper sketches and digital wireframes are common examples of low-fidelity prototypes. 

• You can enhance your user experience (UX) design skills by gaining a deeper understanding of both low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes. 

Find out how low-fidelity prototypes work and when they are most useful. Afterward, enroll in Google’s UX Design Professional Certificate to learn how to apply foundational UX concepts, like user-centered design, accessibility, and equity-focused design. 

What does low fidelity mean? 

When you design a prototype, it can have either low or high fidelity. Fidelity refers to how much a prototype resembles the actual product, which includes the visual characteristics, content, and ability to interact with it. Low fidelity usually means the prototype has the minimum visual details and functionality, but has enough content for sharing the concept with others. Low-fidelity prototypes are usually quick and easy to design. 

Read more: Glossary of UX Terms and Definitions

Low-fidelity prototype examples 

Many low-fidelity prototypes are made from paper sketches or digital wireframes. Sketches are fast and easy to create and simple to discard. You can also refer back to them throughout the design process and make notations directly on the prototype for easy future reference. 

Digital wireframes are reusable, digitally designed sketches that show the functionality and content of the product but not the visuals or interactive parts. They allow you to change and manipulate layouts easily. 

When to use low-fidelity wireframes?

Low-fidelity wireframes prove most effective in the early stages of a design project. Featuring only basic yet essential design components, low-fidelity wireframes are great for testing ideas before committing to high-fidelity prototypes.

What are the pros of the low-fidelity approach?

One of the main reasons designers use low-fidelity prototypes is that they’re fast, easy, and affordable to create. Members of your team who aren’t designers can also create them. Low-fidelity prototypes are easier to make changes to and provide users with a basic understanding of a product or concept. 

What are the cons of low-fidelity prototypes?

Low-fidelity prototypes might be harder to use for testing, and there may be better choices for demonstrating a product or concept to stakeholders. They lack the ability to be interactive, and they may require a little more imagination than high-fidelity prototypes. You’ll typically need to remind users to ignore the lack of visual detail and focus on functionality.

Related terms

• High fidelity

• Pain points

• Task analysis 

• User flow

• Human factors

• Information architecture

Explore our free resources for UX designers

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