A mock-up is an image of a product used to flesh out ideas and solidify the design, done (ideally) before implementation begins. It isn’t intended to work at all; it is just a representation of what the finished product should look like.

Naturally, then, some confusion comes in when the term “prototype” is used to describe a mockup. A prototype is, to my mind, a functional (albeit crude) implementation of something used to prove it can be done and to test the technology involved. The key bit is that it should work. And that’s part of the problem with prototypes: the fact that they work means that all too often the prototype becomes the release. It’s happened to me before, and it’s reason enough to

Wireframe is a term I hear used synonymously with mockup a lot; it seems that a wireframe is a very light, fast mockup without much or any visual flair.

All in all it doesn’t really matter, but I do have to explain what a mockup is more often than I would expect. Hopefully getting the word out about Mockery will help.

Anybody have any thoughts on what we should call all of this stuff?

Update: http://www.melissabernais.com/blog/wireframes-v-mock-ups-v-prototypes/ describes Melissa Bernais’s take on this really well. I agree with her on all of these; our definitions of prototype are a little different but not incompatible.