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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

Glossary

Mockup: testing an idea before building it

A mockup represents a product before it is built, at a chosen level of detail. It makes a proposal manipulable, therefore debatable, therefore correctable at the moment correction costs least. The fidelity level is chosen by the question being asked.

Representing before building

A mockup represents the product to come: screen structure, journey sequence, real content where it matters. It comes in levels of fidelity, from a quick sketch to a clickable prototype. The level is chosen by the question being asked: a structural question is settled with a sketch, a comprehension question requires real content.

  • Fidelity level is chosen by the question being asked
  • A mockup makes the proposal manipulable, therefore debatable
  • Correcting on a mockup costs a fraction of correcting afterwards

Three levels of fidelity

The Design and User Experience programme has candidates produce all three levels on the same project and measures what each one teaches. The Website Creation course uses them as a working document with the client: whatever is approved on the mockup enters the specification.

LevelWhat it settlesWhat it takes
SketchOverall organisation and information hierarchyA few minutes, a sheet of paper
Structured mockupThe full journey and the place of each elementA design tool and the real content
Clickable prototypeA user's comprehension and task successReal transitions and a test session

Programmes that have you mock up

2 catalogue programmes put “Mockup” to work: 126 credits and 1260 taught hours in total. The official rule holds throughout — one credit stands for 25 hours of work, 10 of them taught. Every line below is recomputed from the programme page: level, duration, credits, taught volume and fees in Guinean francs appear exactly as filed in the official catalogue.

ProgrammeLevelDurationVolumeFees
User Experience Design and Digital CreationBachelor's degree2 years120 credits · 1200 taught hours4 800 000 GNF per year
Website CreationShort course3 months6 credits · 60 taught hours1 400 000 GNF in total
Mockup: testing an idea before building it — Glossary | IHETC — IHETC