Design specs or prototype?

[perrybrus]

Why is it called Prototypes & Specs in my CC account when a spec file is a prototype file. What's the point in this double wording? Something I missed here? A Design spec file is also a prototype.

[Atul_Saini]

Hi Perrybrus,

Could you please share the link that you are refering to? The design spec has all the properties on the right-hand side panel about the artboard. The Prototype is just about the look and feel of the application.

Please feel free to send the link via private message.

Thanks,

Atul_Saini

[perrybrus]

But what's the point in merging the expression prototype and design specs then? It's two different things in your term. I haven't met a developer that doesn't refer to the spec file as anything else than a prototype. The spec file is actually far closer to the prototype definition as it carries specifications for design. What Adobe chose to define as prototype is actually static files linked together.

[Atul_Saini]

Thanks for your feedback on this Perrybrus, we would certainly pass it on to the team.

[Dan Rodney]

A prototype is a clickable version of a design that is often used to test user flows.

Design specs are like an info document that tells a developer about fonts, colors, sizes, etc.

As both a designer and developer, those are normal terms and not confusing to me at all. Adobe chose proper industry terminology.

[perrybrus]

Haven't met a single developer in my environment (21 developers) that refers to design specs files as anything else than a prototype of the UI design. Just sayin. What designers in general is using as termology is something else. Like it would be most authentic to call a static lofi UI presentation a mockup a developer wouldn't relate to that. Design specs and prototype is two different doc types so it should not be merged in CC into Prototypes & Specs. Just like Library items & Files wouldn't make sens either.

[Dan Rodney · Accepted solution]

If you're wondering why Prototypes & Specs and grouped in https://assets.adobe.com/links I think it's because those are both "cloud" features generated from XD files. They are not XD files, but things created from XD files stored in your CC account. I could see separating Prototypes & Specs out to make the appropriate asset easier to find (or at least the ability to filter by Prototypes or Specs.

As for the naming (with all due respect) it seems your environment is not the industry norm. Companies often have their own language for things, and maybe that varies from place to place, but these are the terms I've seen every major design app use. For example... Design specs tell you something about a design (font, color, size, spacing, etc), which a prototype does not. A prototype is a clickable version of the UI design.

InVision creates prototypes and says What are prototypes?

A prototype is a barebones, relatively simple working model of an app or webpage. They are typically the next step in the product design process after wireframing. Prototypes typically have color, animations, and (hopefully) the actual content that will be on or in your product. Unlike wireframes, prototypes are often medium to high fidelity. They allow the user to test a digital product’s interface and interactions, and this level of functionality can be useful during the usability testing of an application. Because they often resemble a more finished product, the time and effort invested in creating a prototype can translate to savings during the development phase.

—Source: https://www.invisionapp.com/blog/wireframe-prototype-difference/

Sketch says this about Prototyping:

When you’re designing for screens, whether it’s mobile or web interfaces, it might be useful to see your work in action. With Sketch’s Prototyping features it’s easy to create interactive workflows and preview your designs as your users will see them.

—Source: https://sketchapp.com/docs/prototyping/

Sketch Measure calls it a spec export and that is like Adobe's Design Specs.

So Adobe has a lot of company in using these terms and is in line with the people I've worked with (both designers and developers).

As for organization on the CC website, what is the issue that's causing confusion? Do they only want to see one type of thing (Prototypes or Specs), or it mainly the terminology?

[perrybrus]

A prototype can be delivered with many levels of functionality - or the lack of it. You have active, semi active, lofi, hifi prototypes. You can also say a static mockup is a prototype form. It's just a very general expression of something that is part of an iteration or process. A specification of a product or UI is indeed a prototype as it is a first or preliminary version of a device or vehicle from which other forms are developed. Could be the fourth, could be the ninth iteration. Nevertheless it is still a prototype. Remember, prototyping is not a digital concept but a design concept from industrial design, later adapted by digital designers and others. In the automotive industry you can deliver a prototype as part of a detailed technical specification. Same thing with UI design for instance. It's not any different. You are talking about conventions and what you define as some sort of norm but I very much beg to differ. Defining a program function Prototypes & Specs is odd as they are indeed the same thing. It's like saying Vehicles & Cars. Yes, there are different vehicles but the very concept of thinking that way is odd. I trust Adobe will figure that out as well. As with everything XD it takes time.

[Dan Rodney]

I can see how grouping Prototypes & Specs might seem arbitrary. I'd guess that Adobe grouped them because they are both an online assets created my XD (you even create both in the same place). They are both for sharing with people, so in some ways it can make sense to group those sharable assets (even though they are different things, they are both online assets that need to be managed). Adobe may have grouped them together because people will want to delete those when done. If that grouping is confusing to people, there's no reason why that can't be changed. They are different things and could be separated.

(Keep in mind I am not an Adobe employee and this is all my take on things.)