Design prototyping

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Design prototyping in its broader definition comprises the actions to make, test and analyse a prototype, a model or a mockup according to one or various purposes in different stages [1] of the design process. [2] [3] Other definitions consider prototyping as the methods or techniques for making a prototype (e.g., rapid prototyping techniques), [4] or a stage in the design process (prototype development, prototype or prototyping). [5] [6] [3] [7] The concept of prototyping in design disciplines' literature is also related to the concepts of experimentation (i.e., an iterative problem-solving process of trying, failing and improving), [4] and Research through Design (RtD) (i.e., designers make a prototype with the purpose of conducting research and generating knowledge while trying it, rather than aiming to improving it to become a final product). [8] [9]

Contents

Background

Initial references to the concept of prototyping in design could be traced to the proceedings of the Conference on Design Methods [10] in 1962:

"As you come down in scale, it is much more likely that you will be able to mass produce the object, and therefore be able to make a prototype, test it and try it out and explore it."

— J.K. Page [11]

In 1968, Bruce Archer, a relevant figure in the "Design Methods Movement" describes the design process. One of the stages of the process is called "Prototype development" and it indicates activities to build and test a prototype. [12] Thus, it would be possible to say that from a design methods' perspective, prototyping recalls a process in which a prototype is built, tried out and tested. In the same line, additional references to prototyping can be found in later editions of the Design Research Society's Conferences. [13] For example, referring to build models and use them to consult people out of the design team, review the model and make decisions on how to modify the design proposal; [14] or describing modelling (creating a model) and model simulation. [15]

However, one of the first documented uses of the term prototyping linked to a design process appears in 1983 in A systematic look at prototyping [2] in the field of information systems and software development. The work of Floyd was inspired by the discussions among the scholars who were preparing the Working Conference on Prototyping. It focuses on prototype as a process, rather than the artefact and how prototyping could be applied to the full solution (or product) or parts of it seeking to improve the final output. Although this work was not developed within the design discipline, it provides a comprehensive characterisation of prototyping by defining its steps, purposes and strategies. Moreover, it serves as a referent to further studies of design prototyping.

Example of a rapid prototyping technique: 3D printing of prototypes 3D printing functional prototypes.jpg
Example of a rapid prototyping technique: 3D printing of prototypes

Later, around the year of 1990, the availability of methods for rapidly manufacturing models and prototypes stimulated the publication of a great body of literature dedicated to rapid prototyping techniques and technologies (e.g., 3D printing). Technologies for additive manufacturing (i.e., adding material) or substractive manufacturing (i.e., removing material) together with the use of software for computer-aided design (CAD), leveraged prototype building but also the fabrication of products in limited numbers.

Along the years, further efforts have been dedicated to characterising prototyping in design disciplines in the fields of interaction design, experience design, [16] product design [17] and service design, [1] [18] [3] as well as in product-design-related fields such as engineering/mechanical design. [19] [20] In 2000, designers from IDEO described experience prototyping, introducing types of design representations and methods that allow to simulate aspects of an interaction that people experience by themselves. [16] Experience prototyping can combine various types of prototypes such as spaces, products and interfaces to resemble what the real experience could be like. Around the year of 2010, studies were developed to examine the prototyping of services theorising from the growing practice of service design, [18] which later in 2018 were also used as a reference for service design practitioners. [3]

Prototyping cycle

Prototyping is developed in an iterative cycle of making, testing and analysing which allows to examine dimensions of a solution before its future implementation, anticipating to possible issues and improving them earlier in the process. This cycle can be portrayed the following steps: [2] [21] [3]

Paper prototype of a website user interface Paper prototype of website user interface, 2015-04-16.jpg
Paper prototype of a website user interface
  1. Preparation: to decide the aims of prototyping, define questions and assumptions that are going to be examined, identify the participants of the prototyping sessions and the dimensions of the prototype that are going to be tested.
  2. Making: some or various dimensions will be represented in a prototype (e.g., material, form or function) [22] employing an appropriate[ clarification needed ] depending on the purpose. The relevance on making on design has been increasing in the last years and transforming while new design disciplines emerge. For instance, whilst sketches were previously another category of visual design representations, [23] today they could also be considered prototypes in service design. [3]
  3. Testing: the prototyping session develops in a defined setup with certain characteristics of space and environment and will follow a method to gather feedback.
  4. Analysing: the results of the testing will be integrated into the solution and updated in the following prototype versions.
    User experience (UX) prototyping: testing of a mobile application UX prototyping 4.jpg
    User experience (UX) prototyping: testing of a mobile application

One example of this cycle could be the design of a digital interface in the early stages of the process applying paper prototyping. [24] In this case, prototyping may seek to explore and evaluate multiple alternatives of ideas with the users as fast and cheap as possible, before investing time to program it. Thus, the prototypes will represent the structure of the interface by using simple forms and text to indicate the elements (1). A common technique for creating prototypes of digital interfaces would be to sketch wireframes in paper (2). The team will meet with a potential user and the wireframes will be presented by the design researcher. The user will simulate to click the elements and explain the actions that intends to do while moving to other sheets that represent other screens in the navigation flow (3). The feedback gathered will be used to make decisions on the aspects that need to be modified and the layout of the interface will be updated (4).

Characteristics of prototyping

To prepare for prototyping, some aspects need to be decided. For this purpose, it is useful to individualise and consider various characteristics that will allow identifying how prototyping should be developed according to the design needs. [3] In this regard, the prototyping framework proposed by Blomkvist and Holmid could provide some guidelines. [1] As a result of a literature review, they identify a set of characteristics which are:

Position in the process

Double Diamond inspired in the Design Council's model of the design process. Double-diamond-process.jpg
Double Diamond inspired in the Design Council's model of the design process.

Whilst for some scholars prototyping was happening in a particular stage of the design process, the importance of prototyping has been gaining relevance as a continuous activity since the early stages of the process. [1] [25] Considering in which moment of the process prototyping is going to be developed will guide decisions on its purpose and further characteristics of prototyping.

Purpose

Prototyping can be developed according to different aims of the design process that influence decisions such as what variables of the prototype are going to be examined and who is going to be involved in the testing session. For example, in the early stages of the process, the need could be to explore various ideas within the design team and prototypes may be created fast and with little resources, while at the end of the process the functionality of the solution may be evaluated with future users so the prototype would largely resemble its final version.

Some of the purposes of prototyping identified by different authors are:

  • Communication: prototyping seeks to support communication and clarification of aspects about the solution with different stakeholders. For instance, it can be used within the design team or by the team to share information, present aspects of a design proposal or persuade stakeholders about the pertinence of a solution. A prototype could be presented internally to other colleagues, managers, or externally to partners, investors, or future users. [21] [16] [19] [1] [20] [3]
  • Exploration: prototyping serves to explore different alternatives of solutions or aspects of it, try a variety of ideas, or gather additional insights that feed the ideation process and the generation of new solutions. [2] [16] [1] [20] [3]
  • Evaluation: prototyping can be developed to evaluate qualitatively potential solutions or part of them. For instance, it can aid to examine the functionality or the experience of testing it with the future user. The feedback gathered from the evaluation can validate (or not) previous assumptions, help to narrow down alternatives and make decisions about the solution. [16] [1] [3]
  • Experimentation: prototyping leads to run an experiment on a prototype to examine in a more technical and quantitative manner the feasibility, efficiency, and specifications of a solution. [2]
  • Learning: prototyping is used to gather knowledge about the performance of a prototype and learn about how the solution could work in relation to the user needs. [21] [19] [3]
  • Evolution: prototyping could be developed to incrementally improve a prototype until it is refined to get the final solution [2] [20]

Stakeholder

A prototyping session can involve a variety of people related to the solution. Internal to the organisation, the participants could range from the members of the design team to colleagues from other departments and managers. External to the organisation, prototyping could involve future users and clients, and representatives from other organisations. The selection of the participants would depend on the purposes of prototyping. [1] For instance, a prototyping session for exploration could be developed internally with colleagues in order to get quick feedback about initial design proposals. Another example would be to involve users in co-design prototyping sessions in order to explore proposals directly with future users.

Activity

The activity refers to the method that would be used for testing a prototype, the context in which it is going to occur, and the strategies for testing in relation to what would be the real conditions of use of the solution. [2] [1]

Prototype

Prototype of a service made with paper illustrations and other simple elements Design Thinking Workshop WMDE Prototyp Wiki-Dorf.jpg
Prototype of a service made with paper illustrations and other simple elements

Prototypes can represent one component of a future solution such as "(Inter)actions, service processes, experiences, physical objects, environments, spaces, architecture, digital artifacts and software, ecosystems, [or] (business) value" [3] or comprise various of these components. [1]

Moreover, a prototype can reflect one or multiple dimensions of the future solution and a variety of aspects could be considered. A simple approach would be to think on the fidelity, meaning how close the prototype resembles to the final solution (blom)(stick). More comprehensive approaches can be considered through multiple dimensions. For instance, Houde and Hill describe the “role” (i.e., functionality for the user), “look and feel” (i.e., sensory, and experiential aspects), “implementation” (i.e., performance of the solution). [26] Lim, Stolterman and Tenenberg propose a classification of prototypes according to “filtering dimensions: functionality, interactivity, and spatial structure"; and “manifestation dimensions:materials, resolution, and scope". [22] They suggest these dimensions can be pondered in order to decide how the prototype should be.

"The best prototype is one that, in the simplest and the most efficient way, makes the possibilities and limitations of a design idea visible and measurable”

— Lim, Stolterman and Tenenberg, 2008 [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Design</span> Plan for the construction of an object or system

A design is the concept of or proposal for an object, process, or system. Design refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, though it is sometimes used to refer to the nature of something – its design. The verb to design expresses the process of developing a design. In some cases, the direct construction of an object without an explicit prior plan may also be considered to be a design. A design is expected to have a purpose within a certain context, usually having to satisfy certain goals and constraints, and to take into account aesthetic, functional, economic, environmental or socio-political considerations. Typical examples of designs include architectural and engineering drawings, circuit diagrams, sewing patterns, and less tangible artefacts such as business process models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prototype</span> Early sample or model built to test a concept or process

A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. Physical prototyping has a long history, and paper prototyping and virtual prototyping now extensively complement it. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.

Rapid application development (RAD), also called rapid application building (RAB), is both a general term for adaptive software development approaches, and the name for James Martin's method of rapid development. In general, RAD approaches to software development put less emphasis on planning and more emphasis on an adaptive process. Prototypes are often used in addition to or sometimes even instead of design specifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usability</span> Capacity of a system for its users to perform tasks

Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a software can be used by specified consumers to achieve quantified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a quantified context of use.

Interaction design, often abbreviated as IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." While interaction design has an interest in form, its main area of focus rests on behavior. Rather than analyzing how things are, interaction design synthesizes and imagines things as they could be. This element of interaction design is what characterizes IxD as a design field, as opposed to a science or engineering field.

Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet or an intranet. Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications, electronic businesses, and social network services. A more comprehensive list of tasks to which Web development commonly refers, may include Web engineering, Web design, Web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, Web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development.

Product design is the process of creating new products for sale businesses to its customers. It involves the generation and development of ideas through a systematic process that leads to the creation of innovative products. Thus, it is a major aspect of new product development.

Software prototyping is the activity of creating prototypes of software applications, i.e., incomplete versions of the software program being developed. It is an activity that can occur in software development and is comparable to prototyping as known from other fields, such as mechanical engineering or manufacturing.

A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines and design disciplines like Human-Computer Interaction. Design engineers tend to work on products and systems that involve adapting and using complex scientific and mathematical techniques. The emphasis tends to be on utilizing engineering physics and other applied sciences to develop solutions for society.

Human-centered computing (HCC) studies the design, development, and deployment of mixed-initiative human-computer systems. It is emerged from the convergence of multiple disciplines that are concerned both with understanding human beings and with the design of computational artifacts. Human-centered computing is closely related to human-computer interaction and information science. Human-centered computing is usually concerned with systems and practices of technology use while human-computer interaction is more focused on ergonomics and the usability of computing artifacts and information science is focused on practices surrounding the collection, manipulation, and use of information.

Service design is the activity of planning and arranging people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality, and the interaction between the service provider and its users. Service design may function as a way to inform changes to an existing service or create a new service entirely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">User interface design</span> Planned operator–machine interaction

User interface (UI) design or user interface engineering is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience. In computer or software design, user interface (UI) design primarily focuses on information architecture. It is the process of building interfaces that clearly communicate to the user what's important. UI design refers to graphical user interfaces and other forms of interface design. The goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction as simple and efficient as possible, in terms of accomplishing user goals.

Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) is a technical approach for analyzing and designing an application, system, or business by applying object-oriented programming, as well as using visual modeling throughout the software development process to guide stakeholder communication and product quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mockup</span> Scale or full-size model of a design or device

In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock-up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup may be a prototype if it provides at least part of the functionality of a system and enables testing of a design.

User experience design defines the experience a user would go through when interacting with a company, its services, and its products. User experience design is a user centered design approach because it considers the user's experience when using a product or platform. Research, data analysis, and test results drive design decisions in UX design rather than aesthetic preferences and opinions. Unlike user interface design, which focuses solely on the design of a computer interface, UX design encompasses all aspects of a user's perceived experience with a product or website, such as its usability, usefulness, desirability, brand perception, and overall performance. UX design is also an element of the customer experience (CX), and encompasses all aspects and stages of a customer's experience and interaction with a company.

Human-centered design is an approach to problem-solving commonly used in process, product, service and system design, management, and engineering frameworks that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. Human involvement typically takes place in initially observing the problem within context, brainstorming, conceptualizing, developing of concepts and implementing the solution.

Human-centered design is an approach to interactive systems development that aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and requirements, and by applying human factors/ergonomics, and usability knowledge and techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency, improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and counteracts possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance.

User experience evaluation (UXE) or user experience assessment (UXA) refers to a collection of methods, skills and tools utilized to uncover how a person perceives a system before, during and after interacting with it. It is non-trivial to assess user experience since user experience is subjective, context-dependent and dynamic over time. For a UXA study to be successful, the researcher has to select the right dimensions, constructs, and methods and target the research for the specific area of interest such as game, transportation, mobile, etc.

Living labs are open innovation ecosystems in real-life environments using iterative feedback processes throughout a lifecycle approach of an innovation to create sustainable impact. They focus on co-creation, rapid prototyping & testing and scaling-up innovations & businesses, providing joint-value to the involved stakeholders. In this context, living labs operate as intermediaries/orchestrators among citizens, research organisations, companies and government agencies/levels.

User research focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs and motivations through interviews, surveys, usability evaluations and other forms of feedback methodologies. It is used to understand how people interact with products and evaluate whether design solutions meet their needs. This field of research aims at improving the user experience (UX) of products, services, or processes by incorporating experimental and observational research methods to guide the design, development, and refinement of a product. User research is used to improve a multitude of products like websites, mobile phones, medical devices, banking, government services and many more. It is an iterative process that can be used at anytime during product development and is a core part of user-centered design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research-based design</span>

The research-based design process is a research process proposed by Teemu Leinonen, inspired by several design theories. It is strongly oriented towards the building of prototypes and it emphasizes creative solutions, exploration of various ideas and design concepts, continuous testing and redesign of the design solutions.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Floyd, Christiane (1984). A systematic look at prototyping. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 1–18.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Stickdorn, Marc; Hormess, Markus Edgar; Lawrence, Adam; Schneider, Jakob (2018). This is service design doing : applying service design thinking in the real world : a practitioner's handbook. Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence, Jakob Schneider (1st ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN   978-1-4919-2718-2. OCLC   922913141.
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  5. ↑ Archer, L. Bruce (1969). The structure of the design process. Lund Humphries, Bradford and London. pp. 76–102.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. ↑ Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (2010). An introduction to design thinking: process guide (PDF).
  7. ↑ Friis Dam, Rikke; Yu Siang, Teo (2019). "Stage 4 in the Design Thinking Process: Prototype". Interaction Design Foundation.
  8. ↑ Frayling, Christopher (1993). Research in art and design. Vol. 1. London: Royal College of Art. pp. 1–5.
  9. ↑ Stappers, Pieter Jan; Giaccardi, Elisa (2017). Research through design. The Interaction Design Foundation. pp. 1–94.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ Jones, John Christopher; Thornley, Denis G (1963). Conference on design methods. Pergamon Press.
  11. ↑ Page, J.K. (1963). A Review of the Papers Presented at the Conference. p. 212.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ Archer, L Bruce (1968). The Structure of Design Processes. Royal College of Art.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. ↑ DRS, Design Research Society. "DRS Conference volumes". DRS Digital Library. DRS. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Design Research Society, ed. (1973). "The Design Activity International Conference, 1973". DRS Conference Volumes. Design Research Society: 192.
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  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Buchenau, Marion; Suri, Jane Fulton (2000). "Experience prototyping". Proceedings of the 3rd conference on Designing interactive systems: Processes, practices, methods, and techniques. Dis '00. pp. 424–433. doi:10.1145/347642.347802. hdl:10654/43854. ISBN   1581132190. S2CID   6481095.
  17. ↑ Hallgrimssom, Bjarki (2012). Prototyping and modelmaking for product design. Laurence King Publishing. ISBN   978-1-78067-446-9. OCLC   1145028866.
  18. 1 2 Blomkvist, Johan (2014). Representing future situations of service: prototyping in service design. Linköping University Electronic Press.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  19. 1 2 3 Stowe, David (2008). Investigating the Role of Prototyping in Mechanical Design Using Case Study Validation. Clemson University.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  20. 1 2 3 4 Camburn, Bradley; Viswanathan, Vimal; Linsey, Julie; Anderson, David; Jensen, Daniel; Crawford, Richard; Otto, Kevin; Wood, Kristin (2017). "Design prototyping methods: state of the art in strategies, techniques, and guidelines". Design Science. 3: e13. doi: 10.1017/dsj.2017.10 . ISSN   2053-4701. S2CID   116507313.
  21. 1 2 3 Ulrich, Karl T.; Eppinger, Steven D. (2012). Product design and development (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN   978-0-07-340477-6. OCLC   706677610.
  22. 1 2 3 Lim, Youn-Kyung; Stolterman, Erik; Tenenberg, Josh (2008). "The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as manifestations of design ideas". ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. 15 (2): 1–27. doi:10.1145/1375761.1375762. ISSN   1073-0516. S2CID   9985664.
  23. ↑ Pei, Eujin; Campbell, Ian; Evans, Mark (2011). "A taxonomic classification of visual design representations used by industrial designers and engineering designers". The Design Journal. 14 (1): 64–91. doi:10.2752/175630610X12877385838803. S2CID   108653894.
  24. ↑ Stickdorn, Lawrence, Hormeß, Schneider. "This is Service Design Doing - Methods - Paper prototyping". This is Service Design Doing. Retrieved June 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑ Sanders, Elizabeth B.-N.; Stappers, Pieter Jan (2014-01-02). "Probes, toolkits and prototypes: three approaches to making in codesigning". CoDesign. 10 (1): 5–14. doi:10.1080/15710882.2014.888183. ISSN   1571-0882. S2CID   108955372.
  26. ↑ Houde, Stephanie; Hill, Charles (1997). "What do prototypes prototype?" (PDF). Handbook of Human-computer Interaction. North-Holland: 367–381. doi:10.1016/B978-044481862-1.50082-0. ISBN   9780444818621. S2CID   18520479.
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