Action

Context

Tool

Difficulty


Reset all
Tape Finger

Tape Finger

move

Description

Attach a small piece of tape to your finger. Tap on a movable unit, lift your finger and move it around without moving other units.

Material

Sticky-note tape

Push it

Have you thought of using physical objects yet? Remember the principles of polymorphism, reuse and reification. Also, think of persistance!

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Pick Up

Pick Up

move

Description

Draw a fixed unit on paper. Trace a copy of it onto a transparency. Attach the fixed unit to the background. Move your finger along the unit that is moved through the transparency from outside the shot.

Material

Transparency strip, transparency pen

Push it

Have you thought of using physical objects yet? Remember the principles of polymorphism, reuse and reification. Also, think of persistance!

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Move

Magic Move

move

Description

Attach the movable unit onto a transparency. Move your finger and the transparency together to the correct location.

Material

Transparency strip, tape

One more tip

Using a transparency to move units around can get a bit messy if you have a lot of loose elements on your background. In that case, better go for the tapefinger. Anyhow, you can use the static of the transparency to stick your unit onto it instead of using tape.

Push it

Have you thought of using physical objects yet? Remember the principles of polymorphism, reuse and reification. Also, think of persistance!

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Moving Smooth

Moving Smooth

move

Description

Place a transparency on the background. Place movable units on top so you can move them around more smoothly.

Material

Transparency

One more tip

When using a full transparency in your shot, choose the right lightning, as the transparency will reflect it.

Push it

Have you thought of using physical objects yet? Remember the principles of polymorphism, reuse and reification. Also, think of persistance!

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Moving Pen

Moving Pen

move

Description

Attach tape to the cap of a felt-tip pen. Tap a movable unit to pick it up.

Material

Felt-tip pen, tape

One more tip

Be careful to remove the tape afterwards.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Moving Object

Moving Object

move

Description

Attach tape to the back of a physical object. Use the physical object to pick up a movable unit.

Material

Physical object, tape

One more tip

Be careful to remove the tape afterwards.

Push it

Great that you are using physical objects! Can you push the principles of instrumental interaction even further?

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Moving Mouse

Moving Mouse

move

Description

Draw a cursor shape in permanent ink onto a long, thin strip of a transparency (or attach a paper arrow to the transparency). Hold the end of the transparency from outside the shot to move the cursor within the frame.

Material

Transparency strip, paper, pen, scissors, tape

One more tip

Use a transparency that is ideally long enough to place your hand outside of the screen. If you want to select an element, check out the selecting tricks.

Push it

When using a cursor for your prototype, try to push your interactions further and avoid button-clicking interactions. Have you yet thought of the principles of polymorphism, reuse and reification? Try to put them together with your mouse interaction.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Walking Sticky

Walking Sticky

move

Description

Pick up the movable unit from the black- or whiteboard and move it to its correct position by walking.

Material

Paper or sticky-note, tape, pencils

One more tip

Remember to draw your units big enough.

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Walking Magnet

Walking Magnet

move

Description

Attach the movable unit onto a magnet. Move the magnet to move the unit.

Material

Magnet, paper or sticky-note, tape

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Walking Pen

Walking Pen

move

Description

Use a thick pen and attach a tape on its cap. Pick up the movable unit with the pen and move it along the wall.

Material

Whiteboard-pen, tape

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Walking Pointer

Walking Pointer

move

Description

Redraw the movable element on a sticky-note or a piece of paper. Use your hand as a pointer and shoot small sequences each with a different position of the walking sticky.

Surface: wall

Input: cursor

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Walking Body

Walking Body

move

Description

Use predefined body movement as an instrument to move units around. Film the body movement and rearange the units accordingly.

Surface: wall

Input: freehand

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle:

Dragging Copy

Dragging Copy

drag

Description

Redraw the movable unit. Place the copy above the fixed unit and pick it up with one of the moving tricks. As soon as you drop the movable unit, be sure to remove the fixed one from its previous position.

Material

Paper, pen

One more tip

As soon as you drop the movable unit, be sure to remove the fixed one from its previous position. To drag and drop units, you do not necessarily need to copy them - this is just a suggestion to make it more clear. You can also just move the unit itself.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Dragging Finger

Dragging Finger

drag

Description

Move the unit around with one of the movingtricks and be sure your intended interaction gets obvious. Use e.g. the title cards to illustrate what you are doing.

One more tip

To drag and drop the unit you do not necessarily need to copy it - this is just a suggestion to make it more clear.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Dragging Trace

Dragging Trace

drag

Description

Trace the movable unit on a transparency and move it around with the magicmove trick.

Material

Transparency, transparency pen

One more tip

As soon as you drop the movable unit, be sure to remove the fixed one from its previous position. Be careful with the lightning when using transparencies.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Dragging Pen

Dragging Pen

drag

Description

Redraw the movable unit. Place the copy above the fixed unit and pick it up with the movingpen trick.

One more tip

As soon as you drop the unit, be sure to remove the fixed one from its previous position. To drag and drop the unit, you do not necessarily need to copy it - this is just a suggestion to make it more clear.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Dragging Object

Dragging Object

drag

Description

Redraw the movable unit. Place the copy above the fixed unit and pick it up with the physical object. As soon as you drop the movable unit, be sure to remove the fixed one from its previous position.

One more tip

To drag and drop a unit, you do not necessarily need to copy it - this is just a suggestion to make it more clear.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Dragging Mouse

Dragging Mouse

drag

Description

Redraw the movable unit. Place the copy above the fixed unit and pick it up with the magiccursor trick. As soon as you drop the unit, be sure to remove the fixed one from its previous position.

Material

Transparency, tape

One more tip

Think of the added weight when taping the unit to the transparency.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Dragging Wall

Dragging Wall

drag

Description

Redraw the movable unit. Place the copy above the fixed unit and pick it up with any of the movingtricks.

One more tip

If you are using pointing or movement as a tool, do the Invisible Magic and shoot short sequences moving the units around.

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Simple Select

Simple Select

select

Description

Tap with your finger on the unit you wish to select. Choose the action that comes next.

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out the notify-tips to learn more about that!

Push it

Redraw the movable unit on a sticky-note or a piece of paper. Use your hand as a pointer and shoot small sequences each with a different position of the walking sticky.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Simple Select

Simple Select

select

Description

Tap with the pen on the unit you wish to select. Choose the action that comes next.

Material

Pen

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out the notify-tips to learn more about that!

Push it

What will happen next after selecting? Have you thought of other ways to select units when using touch? Think of gestural selection. How can you involve your pen even more into the design?

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Gesture Select

Gesture Select

select

Description

Define a gesture to select a unit. Place a transparency on top of your background and trace the gesture on it after completing the hand-gesture.

Material

Pen, transparency

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out the notify-tips to learn more about that!

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Gesture Select

Gesture Select

select

Description

Define a gesture to select a unit. Place a transparency on top and draw the gesture on it with the magic pen trick.

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out thenotify-tips to learn more about that!

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Simple Select

Simple Select

select

Description

Tap with the object on the unit you wish to select. Choose the action that comes next.

Material

Physical object

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out thenotify-tips to learn more about that!

Push it

What will happen next? Have you thought of using contextual or pie menus for your physical object? This way, you might be able to get rid of some boring buttons.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Mouse Click

Mouse Click

select

Description

Use your magiccursor to select a unit. Include your sketched or physical mouse into the shooting angle and do a clear clicking-gesture on the mouse.

Material

Mouse

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out thenotify-tips to learn more about that!

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Sound Click

Sound Click

select

Description

Use your magiccursor to select a unit. Say click as soon as the cursor is placed on it.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Finger Click

Finger Click

select

Description

Use your Magic Cursor to select a unit. Tap with the finger on the cursor to illustrate the click.

One more tip

When using your finger in your prototype, make sure that the role is clear - here, you should only use it to indicate clicking actions. If your prototype involves touch, be aware that your finger will be your pointing device - do not use it for anything else!

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Note Click

Note Click

select

Description

Use your Magic Cursor to select a unit. On a small paper, write down click and place the note next to the cursor.

Material

Sticky-note, pen

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

Simple Select

Simple Select

select

Description

Tap with your finger on the unit you wish to select. Choose the action that comes next.

One more tip

You will need jump-cuts for this one. Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out the notify-tips to learn more about that!

Push it

What will happen next after selecting? Have you thought of other ways to select units when using touch? Think of any kind of gestural input, or maybe use some physical objects?

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Simple Select

Simple Select

select

Description

Tap with the pen on the unit you wish to select. Choose the action that comes next.

Material

Pen

One more tip

Think of the feedback the user will get when selecting a unit. Check out the notify-tips to learn more about that!

Push it

What will happen next after selecting? Have you thought of other ways to select units when using touch? Think of gestural selection. How can you involve your pen even more into the design?

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Sound Click

Sound Click

select

Description

Use your Magic Cursor to select a unit. Say click as soon as the pointing tool (finger, hand) is placed on it.

Surface: wall

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Magic Hand

Magic Hand

write

Description

Place a transparency or an empty sheet on your layer or background. Hide a pencil under your hand and draw or write on the background or layer.

Material

Pen, transparency

One more tip

Do not write or draw on your backgrounds and layers but put an empty sheet or a transparency on top so that you can reshoot without redoing your whole prototype. If you have a lot of text input, write out only the content that is of importance - for the rest sluggy lines will do it.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Keyboard

Magic Keyboard

type

Description

Use your sketched or physical keyboard. Attach it onto a transparency and let the keyboard magically appear through sliding it in from the outside of your shot.

Material

Transparency, pen, paper, scissors, pencils

One more tip

This is a reusable unit. In case you are doing prototypes quite frequently, do not through all your artifacts but store them somewhere for your next idea. If you have a bigger background, you can also use a real keyboard and cover it with a paper-window so that only the keyboard is shown.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: keyboard

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Pen

Magic Pen

write

Description

Place a transparency or an empty sheet on your layer or background. Use your physical pen to input text or draw on your layer or background.

Material

Transparency, paper, pen

One more tip

If you have a lot of text input, write out only the content that is of importance - for the rest sluggy lines will do it.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Keyboard

Magic Keyboard

type

Description

Write the text input on a seperate piece of paper. Click on the unit with your Magic Cursor. Let the keyboard magically appear with the Come And Go-trick or use a wider filming angle to include your keyboard. Let the prepared text input magically appear by using jump-cuts.

Material

Keyboard, text snippet

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: keyboard

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Magic Hand

Magic Hand

write

Description

Hide a pencil under your hand and draw or write on the background or layer.

Material

Pen

One more tip

If you are filling out several textfields, or putting in a lot of text, only write the content that is of importance - for the rest just draw sluggy lines.

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Magic Pen

Magic Pen

write

Description

Write on your background or layer using your physical pen.

Material

Pen

One more tip

If you are filling out several textfields, or putting in a lot of text, only write the content that is of importance - for the rest just draw sluggy lines.

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Tiny Copy

Tiny Copy

zoom

Description

Redraw the unit you want to zoom at in the size you wish. Do a zooming gesture on the fixed unit and place the zoomed copy above it. To illustrate the zooming gesture better and if you have enough time, you can create copies in two different sizes and take 3 filming sequences. To zoom out, just film it the other way around.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors

One more tip

This trick can be used whenever you want to make an object become bigger or smaller.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

TIny Copy

TIny Copy

zoom

Description

Redraw the unit you want to zoom at in the size you wish. With your pen do a zooming gesture on the fixed unit and place the zoomed copy above it. To illustrate the zooming gesture better and if you have enough time, you can create copies in two different sizes and take 3 filming sequences. To zoom out, just film it the other way around.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, pen

One more tip

This trick can be used whenever you want to make an object become bigger or smaller.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

TIny Copy

TIny Copy

zoom

Description

Redraw the unit you want to zoom at in the size you wish. Involve a unit to the shot which causes the zooming (e.g. scroll bar, mouse wheel). Then place the zoomed copy you prepared above the fixed unit. To illustrate the zooming gesture better and if you have enough time, you can create copies in two different sizes and take 3 filming sequences. To zoom out, just film it the other way around.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, mouse

One more tip

This trick can be used whenever you want to make an object become bigger or smaller.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

Tiny Copy

Tiny Copy

zoom

Description

Redraw the unit you want to zoom at in the size you wish. Do a zooming gesture on the fixed unit and place the zoomed copy you prepared above it. To illustrate the zooming gesture better and if you have enough time, you can create copies in two different sizes and take 3 filming sequences. To zoom out, just film it the other way around.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors

One more tip

This trick can be used whenever you want to make an object become bigger or smaller. When doing gestures on a wall-sized display, be sure to make the gestures big enough.

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

TIny Copy

TIny Copy

zoom

Description

Redraw the unit you want to zoom at in the size you wish. With your pen do a zooming gesture on the fixed unit and place the zoomed copy above it. To illustrate the zooming gesture better and if you have enough time, you can create copies in two different sizes and take 3 filming sequences. To zoom out, just film it the other way around.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, pen, physical object

One more tip

When doing gestures on a wall-sized display, be sure to make the gestures big enough.

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

TIny Copy

TIny Copy

zoom

Description

Redraw the unit you want to zoom at in the size you wish. Place your physical object on the fixed unit and place the zoomed copy below the physical object using jump-cuts. To illustrate the zooming gesture better and if you have enough time, you can create copies in two different sizes and take 3 filming sequences. To zoom out, just film it the other way around.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, pen

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle:

Tiny Drag

Tiny Drag

drag

Description

Redraw the unit of your background or layer you wish to drag in a smaller size on a seperate paper. With your finger select the unit on your background. Using the Tape Finger, attach the redrawed unit to your finger and remove the original from the background or layer. Now move your finger together with the tiny copy to where you want to drop it.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, transparencies, transparency pen, tape

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Tiny Drag

Tiny Drag

drag

Description

Redraw the unit of your background or layer you wish to drag in a smaller size on a seperate paper. With your pen select the unit on your background. Using the Magic Pen, attach the redrawed unit to your pen and remove the original from the background or layer. Now move your pen together with the tiny copy to where you want to drop it.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, transparencies, transparency pen, tape

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Tiny Drag

Tiny Drag

drag

Description

Redraw the unit of your background or layer you wish to drag in a smaller size on a seperate paper. With your physical object select the unit on your background. Using the Magic Object, attach the redrawed unit to your object and remove the original from the background or layer. Now move your object together with the tiny copy to where you want to drop it.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, transparencies, transparency pen, tape

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Tiny Drag

Tiny Drag

drag

Description

Redraw the unit of your background or layer you wish to drag in a smaller size on a seperate paper. With your finger select the unit on your background. Using the Tape Finger, attach the redrawed unit to your finger and remove the original from the background or layer. Now move your finger together with the tiny copy to where you want to drop it.

Material

Paper, pencils, scissors, transparencies, transparency pen, tape

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Paper Scroll

Paper Scroll

scroll

Description

Prepare a layer that is bigger than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to scroll through your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your finger to scroll by sliding the paper up and down from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, tape, pencils

One more tip

To make it look nicer, place a stencil above your background. Think of the interaction - which pen-gesture triggers the scrolling?

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Scroll

Magic Scroll

scroll

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to scroll through your content. Use your finger to scroll by sliding the paper up and down from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, tape

One more tip

To make it look nicer, place a stencil above your background. Think of the interaction - which gesture triggers the scrolling? This trick can be also used for sliding.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Scroll

Magic Scroll

scroll

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to scroll through your content. Use your pen to scroll by sliding the transparency up and down from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, tape, pen

One more tip

To make it look nicer, place a stencil above your background. Think of the interaction - which pen-gesture triggers the scrolling? This trick can be also used for sliding.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Paper Scroll

Paper Scroll

scroll

Description

Prepare a layer that is bigger than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to scroll through your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your pen to scroll by moving the layer up and down from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, tape, pencils, pen

One more tip

To make it look nicer, place a stencil above your background. Think of the interaction - which pen-gesture triggers the scrolling? This trick can be also used for sliding.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Paper Scroll

Paper Scroll

scroll

Description

Prepare a layer that is bigger than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to scroll through your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your magiccursor to scroll by sliding the paper up and down from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, tape, pencils, mouse

One more tip

To make it look nicer, place a stencil above your background. Think of the interaction - which mouse-gesture triggers the scrolling? This trick can be also used for sliding.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Scroll

Magic Scroll

scroll

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to scroll through your content. Use your magiccursor to scroll by sliding the transperency up and down from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, tape, cursor

One more tip

To make it look nicer, place a stencil above your background. Think of the interaction - which mouse-gesture triggers the scrolling? This trick can be also used for sliding.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Scroll

Magic Scroll

scroll

Description

Surface: wall

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty:

Shooting technique:

Shooting angle:

Magic Slide

Magic Slide

slide

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to slide through your content. Use your finger to slide the transperency in and out from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, sticky notes, scissors, pencil

One more tip

This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Slide

Magic Slide

slide

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to slide through your content. Use your pen to slide the transperency in and out from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, sticky notes, scissors, pencil, pen

One more tip

This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Slide

Magic Slide

slide

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to slide through your content. Use your physical object to slide the transperency in and out from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, sticky notes, scissors, pencil, physical object

One more tip

This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Slide

Magic Slide

slide

Description

Place a transparency above your background and attach all needed units to it. Tape as many transperencies together as you need to slide through your content. Use your Magic Cursor to slide the transperency in and out from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparencies, sticky notes, scissors, pencil, transparency pen

One more tip

This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Sliding Screen

Sliding Screen

slide

Description

Prepare a layer that is wider than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to slide your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your finger to slide by moving the paper left and right from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, pencils

One more tip

Think of the interaction - which gesture triggers the sliding? This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Sliding Screen

Sliding Screen

slide

Description

Prepare a layer that is wider than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to slide your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your pen to slide by moving the paper left and right from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, pencils, pen

One more tip

Think of the interaction - which pen-gesture triggers the sliding? This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Sliding Screen

Sliding Screen

slide

Description

Prepare a layer that is wider than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to slide your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your physcial object to slide by moving the paper left and right from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, pencils, physical object

One more tip

Think of the interaction - which gesture triggers the sliding? This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Sliding Screen

Sliding Screen

slide

Description

Prepare a layer that is wider than your background. Tape as many papers together as you need to slide your content and attach all needed units to that layer. Use your magiccursor to slide by moving the paper left and right from the outside of the shot.

Material

Paper, pencils, mouse

One more tip

Think of the interaction - which mouse-gesture triggers the sliding? This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle: close_up

Fake Slide

Fake Slide

slide

Description

Do a big sliding gesture with your arm and stick the units of the upcoming layer to the background. When doing that, be aware that the shots with the previous layers must be done.

Material

Whiteboard pencil

One more tip

Think of the interaction - which movement triggers the sliding? This trick can be also used for scrolling.

Surface: wall

Input: freehand

Tool: finger

Difficulty: expert

Shooting technique: hollywoodesque

Shooting angle:

Fake Slide

Fake Slide

slide

Description

If you have less time, just fake it. Do a gesture to slide the units, and quickly exchange the layer or background.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Fake Slide

Fake Slide

slide

Description

If you have less time, just fake it. Do a pen-gesture to slide the units, and quickly exchange the layer or background.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Fake Slide

Fake Slide

slide

Description

If you have less time, just fake it. With the physical object, do a gesture to slide the units, and quickly exchange the layer or background.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Fake Slide

Fake Slide

slide

Description

If you have less time, just fake it. Do a mouse-interaction to slide the units, and quickly exchange the layer or background.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Sound Note

Sound Note

listen

Description

Write down the sound or speech on a sticky-note and place it next to your background. To make it more obvious what is happening, include a microphon-unit, use a speech bubble, or write down input or any similar keywords.

Material

Paper or sticky-note, pen

One more tip

You can also shoot from a wider angle including your user and hold a speech bubble in front of the camera and make use of the tricked perspective. This way the content of the speech bubble will be associated with the user.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Sound Note

Sound Note

listen

Description

Write down the sound or speech on a sticky-note and place it next to your background. To make it more obvious what is happening, include a microphon-unit, use a speech bubble, or write down input or any similar keywords.

Material

Paper or sticky-note, pen

One more tip

You can also shoot from a wider angle including your user and hold a speech bubble in front of the camera and make use of the tricked perspective. This way the content of the speech bubble will be associated with the user.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Sound Note

Sound Note

listen

Description

Write down the sound or speech on a sticky-note and place it next to your background. To make it more obvious what is happening, include a microphon-unit, use a speech bubble, or write down input or any similar keywords.

Material

Paper or sticky-note, pen

One more tip

You can also shoot from a wider angle including your user and hold a speech bubble in front of the camera and make use of the tricked perspective. This way the content of the speech bubble will be associated with the user.

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Sound Note

Sound Note

listen

Description

Write down the sound or speech on a sticky-note and place it next to your background. To make it more obvious what is happening, include a microphon-unit, use a speech bubble, or write down input or any similar keywords.

Material

Paper or sticky-note, pen

One more tip

You can also shoot from a wider angle including your user and hold a speech bubble in front of the camera and make use of the tricked perspective . This way the content of the speech bubble will be associated with the user.

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Sound Note

Sound Note

listen

Description

Write down the sound or speech on a sticky-note and place it next to your background. To make it more obvious what is happening, include a microphon-unit, use a speech bubble, or write down input or any similar keywords.

Material

Paper or sticky-note, pen

One more tip

You can also shoot from a wider angle including your user and hold a speech bubble in front of the camera and make use of the tricked perspective . This way the content of the speech bubble will be associated with the user.

Surface: wall

Input: freehand

Tool: finger

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Video Note

Video Note

watch

Description

Use a real phone, overlay it with paper and place it on your background. If available, use a video communication app directly from your phone.

Material

Phone

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Video Note

Video Note

watch

Description

Use a real phone, overlay it with paper and place it on your background. If available, use a video communication app directly from your phone.

Material

Phone

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: pen

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Video Note

Video Note

watch

Description

Use a real phone, overlay it with paper and place it on your background. If available, use a video communication app directly from your phone.

Material

Phone

Surface: paper

Input: touch

Tool: object

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Video Note

Video Note

watch

Description

Use a real phone, overlay it with paper and place it on your background. If available, use a video communication app directly from your phone.

Material

Phone

Surface: paper

Input: cursor

Tool: mouse

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Video Note

Video Note

watch

Description

Use a real phone, overlay it with paper and place it on your background. If available, use a video communication app directly from your phone.

Material

Phone

Surface: wall

Input: freehand

Tool: finger

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: close_up

Pop Up

Pop Up

notify

Description

Prepare a pop-up window on a piece of paper or a sticky-note. Use jump_cuts to let it magically appear.

Material

Paper, scissors, pen

One more tip

When using pop-up windows, make sure you keep them consistend and make a distinction with the color. Is it an error, is it information? What happens after?

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Pop Up

Pop Up

notify

Description

Prepare a pop-up window on a piece of paper or a sticky-note. Use jump_cuts to let it magically appear.

Material

Paper, scissors, pen

One more tip

When using pop-up windows, make sure you keep them consistend and make a distinction with the color. Is it an error, is it information? What happens after?

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Vibration

Vibration

notify

Description

Draw jagged lines on a sticky-note and place them around the background. To make it more obvious, write vibration above the background or move the background up and down using jump_cuts.

Material

Paper, scissors, pen

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

SoundAlert

SoundAlert

notify

Description

Place a sound note (e.g. ring ring) next to your background. You can also use the dancingunit to make it fun - if there is enough time.

Material

Paper, scissors, pen

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

DancingUnit

DancingUnit

notify

Description

Attach the movable unit onto a transparency. Move the transparency from the outside of your shot in order to move the unit attached to it.

Material

Transparency strip, tape

One more tip

Cut the transparency long enough, so that the wizard's hand is not visible in the shot.

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Tracing Error

Tracing Error

notify

Description

Use a tracing paper and draw an error message on it. Place it above your background.

Material

Tracing paper, pencils

One more tip

This is a nice trick if you are actually planning to use your prototype later on for usability tests. Doing so the background is covered but still visible to the user. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs00uio12xk)

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Progress

Magic Progress

notify

Description

Cut a slot in your background or layer as wide, high and long as the progress bar should be. On a strip of paper, leave one half blank and paint the other part e.g. in red or green (be aware of the color coding!). To indicate the progress, slip the strip through the slot in the paper and magically slide it in and out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yafagnfu8eg).

Material

Paper, scissors, pen, pencils

One more tip

Cut the strip long enough for the wizard's hands not being in the shot. Progress bars aren't really necessary for most of the prototypes. If you want to do some testing with your prototype, it can be useful.

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Dancing Unit

Dancing Unit

notify

Description

Attach the movable unit to your wall. Move the unit up and down and shoot each position for at least 1 second. Doing so, you can create the impression of a buzzing unit.

Material

Paper, tape

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Paper Window

Paper Window

highlight

Description

Cut out a tiny paper window in a well-visibly color (e.g. green). The window shall be big enough to show the unit that is to be highlighted. Place it on top of a unit when it is to be highlighted.

Material

Paper, scissors, pencils

One more tip

Watch the color coding!

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Wall Window

Wall Window

highlight

Description

Cut out a tiny paper window in a well-visibly color (e.g. green). The window shall be big enough to show the unit that is to be highlighted. Tape it on top of a unit when it is to be highlighted.

Material

Paper, scissors, pencils, tape

One more tip

Watch the color coding!

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Sticky Dot

Sticky Dot

highlight

Description

Use any kind of sticker, e.g. sticky color dots. To highlight a unit place the color dot right next to it.

Material

Stickers

One more tip

Careful to be consistent when it comes to the usage of the color dots to not confuse the user. To not let the dot be sticked to the paper, just put two on top of each other.

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Magnet

Magnet

highlight

Description

Use a magnet if you have one. To highlight a unit place the magnet right next to it.

Material

Magnet, paper, pencils, tape

One more tip

If you do not have a magnet, draw a colored circle on a paper and attach it to the wall.

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Color Unit

Color Unit

highlight

Description

Create two versions of the unit on different colored paper e.g. white and green. To highlight a unit, place the highlighting color on top.

Material

Paper, scissors, pencils

One more tip

If you have less time, go for one of the other options.

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Color Unit

Color Unit

highlight

Description

Create two versions of the unit on different colored paper e.g. white and green. To highlight a unit, attach the highlighting color on top.

Material

Paper, scissors, pencils, tape

One more tip

If you have less time, go for one of the other options. When working on a wall, you can alsowork with different colored pens.

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Come And Go

Come And Go

slide

Description

Attach the unit to a transparency and slide it in and out of your shot according to the action of the user.

Material

Transparency, scissors

One more tip

You can also use a small paper cut in your video and slip the transparency through . Do that only if you have enough time to play around.

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Ghost Unit

Ghost Unit

move

Description

Use a transparency and attach the unit to it. With the wizard's hand move the transparency around from the outside of the shot.

Material

Transparency

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Magic Unit

Magic Unit

move

Description

Move the unit to different positions on your background. Use jump_cuts and shoot each position for at least 1 second. Shooting 2-3 jump_cuts shall be enough to illustrate the idea of a moving unit.

One more tip

This trick is ideal if you do not have a wizard or if your background is too big to use a transparency.

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up

Sticky Ghost

Sticky Ghost

move

Description

Move the unit to different positions on your background. Use jump_cuts and shoot each position for at least 1 second. Shooting 2-3 jump_cuts shall be enough to illustrate the idea of a moving unit.

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle:

Paper Holograph

Paper Holograph

holograph

Description

Select the regarding unit on your background. On a seperate paper draw a holograph (e.g. using starman). Place the holograph vertically on your background by folding it up.

Material

Paper, pen

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Paper Holograph

Paper Holograph

holograph

Description

Select the regarding unit on your background. On a seperate paper draw a holograph (e.g. using starman). Place the holograph vertically on your background by folding it up.

Material

Paper, pen

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Friendly Holograph

Friendly Holograph

holograph

Description

Ask your colleague to join-in as a holograph. Shoot the user activating the holograph through a unit of the wall-sized display. Pause the video, ask your colleague to jump in to the picture and keep on with what comes next.

Surface: wall

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: advanced

Shooting technique: elaborate

Shooting angle: contextualizing

Magic Highlight

Magic Highlight

highlight

Description

Use a transparency and draw a tiny window or circle on top of it. Use the Come And Go-trick to let it magically appear after a unit was selected.

Material

Transparency, pen

Surface: paper

Input: any

Tool: any

Difficulty: beginner

Shooting technique: simple

Shooting angle: close_up