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Software Engineering vocabulary · Web, Mobile and Interface Development

Low-fidelity

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˌloʊ fɪˈdeləti/adjectiveCore term

In software engineering, low-fidelity means: Describes an early design, wireframe or prototype that is rough and simple, without real colours, images or detailed content, so it is quick to make and change.

In Turkish: düşük detaylı, düşük doğruluklu, lo-fi

How it is used

Often shortened to lo-fi ('a lo-fi prototype'). Paper sketches and grey-box wireframes are low-fidelity. Teams use them to explore many ideas cheaply and to keep feedback on structure, not colours.

Example sentences

  1. Start with low-fidelity sketches; it's too early to choose colours.

  2. We tested a low-fidelity prototype made of paper screens.

Common collocations

  • low-fidelity wireframe
  • low-fidelity prototype
  • lo-fi sketch
  • keep it low-fidelity
  • high-fidelityDescribes a design or prototype that looks and behaves almost like the final product, with real content, colours, images and interactions.
  • wireframeA simple, usually black-and-white drawing of a screen that shows where content, buttons and navigation will go, without final colours, images or styling.
  • prototypeA quick, rough version of a game or feature made to test whether an idea is fun or works, before the team spends time on final art and polish.
  • clickable prototypeA prototype in which screens are linked together, so clicking or tapping buttons and links takes the user to the next screen as in a real product.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Web, Mobile and Interface Development

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