A prototype of a website, for our purposes, is a draft version of a website hosted live (what is called a high-fidelity prototyping). It usually consists of three pages: home, second page, and contact page. Images are placeholders and most information is presented as a "concept".

Building a website prototype can be done at any stage of the project, but we build prototypes as soon as the discovery stage has been completed. Building a prototype very early in the project offers many advantages:

1. Eliminates risks for clients: clients get to see a "preview" of the future website and have a chance to provide feedback
2. Saves time: it is cheaper and easier to make changes early in the development process
3. Ensures higher level of customer satisfaction: clients provide feedback and clarifications as well as approvals after each milestone
4. Simplifies QA: as prototype evolves into a full website, usability flow is tested and reviewed both by developers and the client - before the final QA even begins
5. Provides sufficient time and opportunity for reviews, thus preventing contract disputes and other unpleasant miscommunications
6. Ensures better quality: ownership of the project is shared with the client, hence developers feel more pressure to perform better
7. Simplifies project management decreases risks to a minimum, i.e. there is always plenty of room to correct potential errors and catch misunderstandings.

Those are the main advantages of creating a high-fidelity website prototype early in the project. There are, of course, some disadvantages - but only for developers, none for the clients. The main disadvantages for developers of a live website prototype include the following:

1. More communication time required: clients receive a link to their website's prototype early in the project, and then they check every day, send emails and small questions on the fly
2. More detail work required: client feedback is incorporated in three or four review cycles. But even after the official reviews have been completed, and client's approval on the interface design has been received, many clients change their mind and request tiny tweaks here and there
3. Higher level of frustration: not all clients are familiar with current web design standards or best practices. They often request things that developers are reluctant to incorporate (for example, instead of adding a Site Map link in the footer, some clients request it to be added as a main menu item; some clients request adding a link to an external website as a main menu item, etc.). In most cases, they can be convinced to follow current web design standards, but not always. In some cases, clients' personal taste prevents designers from including the final website in the portfolio display (it happens more often that we thought it would!)

But overall, whatever the differences in opinions or tastes - clients have the final say. As long as clients are happy with the development process and the final results, the project can be considered a success. Client satisfaction is the ultimate measure of success. Our own opinion is just that - an opinion.