One of the best ways to gain insights in a Design Thinking process is to carry out some form of prototyping. This method involves producing an early, inexpensive, and scaled down version of the product in order to reveal any problems with the current design. Prototyping offers designers the opportunity to bring their ideas to life, test the practicability of the current design, and to potentially investigate how a sample of users think and feel about a product. Show
Prototypes are often used in the final, testing phase in a Design Thinking process in order to determine how users behave with the prototype, to reveal new solutions to problems, or to find out whether or not the implemented solutions have been successful. The results generated from these tests are then used to redefine one or more of the problems established in the earlier phases of the project, and to build a more robust understanding of the problems users may face when interacting with the product in the intended environment. Author/Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0The five stages in the Design Thinking process are not always sequential — they do not have to follow any specific order, they can often occur in parallel and be repeated iteratively. As such, the stages should be understood as different modes that contribute to a project, rather than sequential steps. When designers want to determine and understand exactly how users will interact with a product, the most obvious method is to test how the users interact with the product. It would be foolhardy and pointless to produce a finished product for the users to test. Instead, designers can provide simple, scaled down versions of their products, which can then be used in order to observe, record, judge, and measure user performance levels based on specific elements, or the users’ general behaviour, interactions, and reactions to the overall design. These earlier versions are known as prototypes; they are not necessarily in the medium of the finished product as this may not be cost-effective in terms of time or money. Prototypes are built so that designers can think about their solutions in a different way (tangible product rather than abstract ideas), as well as to fail quickly and cheaply, so that less time and money is invested in an idea that turns out to be a bad one. Tim Brown, CEO of the international design and innovation firm IDEO, said it best: Author/Copyright holder: Rodolphe Courtier. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 For instance, when developing software, a design team may produce a number of paper prototypes, as shown in the image above, which the user can gradually work through in order to demonstrate to the design team or evaluators how they may tackle certain tasks or problems. When developing tangible devices, such as the computer mouse, designers may use a number of different materials to enable them to test the basic technology underlying the product. With advances in 3D printing technology, producing prototypes is now often a more instant and low cost process, and as a result this has allowed designers to provide stakeholders with accurate and testable/useable replica models before settling upon a particular design. Types of PrototypingPrototyping methods are generally divided into two separate categories: low- and high-fidelity prototyping. Low-Fidelity PrototypingAuthor/Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0Low-fidelity prototyping involves the use of basic models or examples of the product being tested. For example, the model might be incomplete and utilise just a few of the features that will be available in the final design, or it might be constructed using materials not intended for the finished article, such as wood, paper, or metal for a plastic product. Low-fidelity prototypes can either be models that are cheaply and easily made, or simply recounts or visualisations of them. Examples of low-fidelity prototypes:
Pros of Low-Fidelity Prototyping
Cons of Low-Fidelity Prototyping
High-Fidelity PrototypingAuthor/Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0High-fidelity prototypes are prototypes that look and operate closer to the finished product. For example, a 3D plastic model with movable parts (allowing users to manipulate and interact with a device in the same manner as the final design) is high-fi in comparison to, say, a wooden block. Likewise, an early version of a software system developed using a design program such as Sketch or Adobe Illustrator is high-fi in comparison to a paper prototype. Pros of High-Fidelity Prototyping
Cons of High-Fidelity Prototyping
Due to the pros and cons of low-fi and high-fi prototyping, it should be no surprise that low-fi prototyping is the usual option during the early stages of a Design Thinking project, while high-fi prototyping is used during the later stages, when the test questions are more refined. Guidelines for PrototypingIt is important to remember that prototypes are supposed to be quick and easy tests of design solutions. Here are a few guidelines that will help you in the Prototyping stage:
The Take AwayPrototyping can be a quick and effective way of bringing you/your client's ideas to life. A sample of your intended users or evaluators can then be observed and tested, and their opinions can be used in order to make improvements during an iterative design process. Prototyping methods are generally classified under one of two broad categories: low-fi or high-fi. In the former, simple versions are produced, sometimes with whatever materials are available, which can be tested immediately. In contrast, high-fi methods are generally closer to the final product in terms of look, feel, and means of interaction. Whilst hi-fi prototypes can help the design team gain valuable insights into how the product will be received when distributed, production of hi-fi prototypes can be time-consuming and can have the potential to significantly delay a project should changes need to be made. Therefore, designers have a number of different prototyping methods at their disposal, but there are drawbacks associated with both of these broad categories of testing methods and this must be taken into consideration when deciding how best to improve your design within the allotted time frame and budget. References & Where to Learn MoreCourse: “Design Thinking - The Ultimate Guide”. Bill Buxton, What Sketches (and Prototypes) Are and Are Not. d.school: Wizard of Oz Prototyping. d.school Bootcamp Bootleg, 2013. Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Annie Mole. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY 2.0 What forms a limitation in the engineering design process?Constraints are limitations on the design. These may be materials available, the cost of the materials, the amount of time they have to develop the solution, etc.
What are constraints in the design process?Constraints are limitations on the design, such as available funds, resources, or time. Together, the criteria and constraints are referred to as the requirements for a successful solution.
What is an engineering design?Engineering design means a systematic way to produce, or steps used for producing, functional products and/or processes. A lot of factors have to be taken into account in designing a new product.
What path does the engineering design process follow?The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineers follow to find a solution to a problem. The steps include problem solving processes such as, for example, determining your objectives and constraints, prototyping, testing and evaluation.
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