Design prototyping

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In design, design prototyping are the actions that create, test and analyse a prototype according to specified purposes at specific stages of the design process. [1] [2] [3] Prototyping consists of the methods or techniques for making a prototype (for example, rapid prototyping), [4] and it is often regarded as a discrete stage in the design process. [5] [6] [2] [7]

Contents

The concept of prototyping in design literature is also related to the concepts of experimentation, [4] and Research through Design. [8] [9]

Prototyping cycle

Prototyping involves an iterative cycle of making, testing and analysing which allows the examination of various aspects of a solution before its future implementation, the anticipation of possible issues,, and the making of improvements earlier in the process. This cycle can be portrayed as comprising the following steps: [1] [10] [2]

Paper prototype of a website user interface Paper prototype of website user interface, 2015-04-16.jpg
Paper prototype of a website user interface

Preparation

  1. Deciding the goals of prototyping
  2. Defining questions and assumptions that are going to be examined
  3. Identify the participants of the prototyping sessions and the dimensions of the prototype that are going to be tested

Making

  1. Creating low-fidelity prototypes
    1. Some or various dimensions will be represented in a prototype (e.g., material, form or function). [11] Whilst sketches were previously another category of visual design representations, [12] today they could also be considered as paper prototypes. [2] [13] A low fidelity prototype can be developed with less time and resources than a high-fidelity prototype, with iterations of the former often being developed in the early stages of the making phase. [14]
    2. Steps for creating low-fidelity prototypes in software development may include: [13]
      1. Flowcharts
      2. User behaviour simulation
      3. Wireframing
  2. Creating high-fidelity prototypes

Testing

  1. The prototyping session develops in a defined setup with certain characteristics of space and environment and will follow a method to gather feedback

Analysing

  1. The results of the testing will be integrated into the solution and updated in future prototypes

Characteristics

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. [2] In this regard, the prototyping framework proposed by Blomkvist and Holmid could provide some guidelines. [3] 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. [3] [15]

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. [10] [16] [17] [3] [18] [2]
  • 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. [1] [16] [3] [18] [2]
  • 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] [3] [2]
  • 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. [1]
  • 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. [10] [17] [2]
  • Evolution: prototyping could be developed to incrementally improve a prototype until it is refined to get the final solution [1] [18]

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. [3] 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. [1] [3]

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" [2] or comprise various of these components. [3]

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). [19] 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". [11] 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 [11]


Different Sort of Materials Used for Prototyping

The looks of prototypes in design can vary a lot. Whether it's the material, shape, finish or even the size of the product, prototypes have looks that vary depending on the product they are trying to give an idea of. For example, let's say you're an experienced designer and your superior has given you the task of designing a handle. Specifically, a handle for a hand-held gardening rake. All the other hand-held gardening rakes out there either have this bulky shape that doesn't fit the shape of your palm comfortably, or they are just missing functional features.

Before manufacturing the final product and after sketching the initial concept comes the prototyping phase. A phase that is inevitable and is probably one of the most important. Because without having an actual product to hold, it is very hard to tell what you like or dislike. "Physical models communicate design intent more effectively than drawings because they engage the senses and allow immediate feedback". [20] Having a feel of the actual shape of the product is probably the closest thing you will have to the final product. For handles specifically, this is very important because human ergonomics are an important factor. 

Now for the material, what could be an ideal material that would be used to prototype this handle? Prototypes aren't usually made to be perfect. They are just a quick way to develop a visual for the client.  An ideal material for this would be foam. Specifically, foam from FOAMULAR® and Styrofoam™. These foam boards come in all sorts of colors and thicknesses. The most popular ones are the blue and pink ones that are highly used by students in product design programs. This is because this sort of foam is easily fileable. With the help of files and sanding paper, it is possible to get beautiful smooth finishes on these foam prototypes. It is quick, it is easy, and you can get precise, beautiful results. [21]

However, foam is used for medium to smaller sized prototypes, specifically curved ones. What about bigger and boxier-shaped prototypes? Cardboard is the answer. Cardboard is widely used around the globe to make prototypes of any size and shape. It is a bit more difficult to make curvier shapes but there are people out there who have mastered the use of cardboard. Students in product design programs for example, have been taught early on in their academic journey how to corrugate cardboard. With the help of exact-to knives, cutting straight vertical or horizontal lines on the cardboard, make it easy to curve them later on.  Cardboard also comes in different thicknesses, making the sort of prototypes that one can make endless.  [22]

Model making and prototyping should be done quickly, efficiently and neatly because in any sort of design field, time is key. "Balancing speed and design quality remains a key challenge in maintaining user-centered aesthetics". [23] Let's say you want to make a model of a new chair that you have to redesign. If you want to make a detailed model, then you'll be put under pressure to submit it before the deadline. On the other hand, if your model is done not very neatly, then your client or your superior won't be able to get a good vision on how the final product will look like. This is why time management is a very important factor while designing. [24]

Background

Initial references to the concept of prototyping in design could be traced to the proceedings of the Conference on Design Methods [25] 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 [26]

In 1968, Bruce Archer, a figure in the design methods movement describes the design process as comprising multiple stages, including "Prototype development". [27] From a design methods' perspective, prototyping recalls a process in which a prototype is built, tried out and tested. Additional references to prototyping can be found in later editions of the Design Research Society's Conferences. [28] [29] [30]

One of the first documented uses of the term prototyping, as being linked to a design process, appears in the 1983 software development article, A systematic look at prototyping. [1] Around the year 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.[ citation needed ]

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

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 [31] and service design, [3] [32] [2] as well as in product-design-related fields such as engineering/mechanical design. [17] [18] 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]

Around the year 2010, studies were developed to examine the prototyping of services theorising from the growing practice of service design, [32] which later in 2018 were also used as a reference for service design practitioners. [2]

See also

References

  1. 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)
  2. 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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Blomkvist, Johan; Holmlid, Stefan (2011). "Existing prototyping perspectives: Considerations for service design". Nordes 4.
  4. 1 2 Thomke, Stefan H. (1998). "Managing Experimentation in the Design of New Products" . Management Science. 44 (6): 743–762. doi:10.1287/mnsc.44.6.743. ISSN   0025-1909.
  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. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. 1 2 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)
  14. ↑ "UX Prototypes: Low Fidelity vs. High Fidelity". Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved 2025-10-03.
  15. ↑ 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.
  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. 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)
  18. 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.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ Barker, Peter (2025-10-10), "Design modelling and prototyping", Product Design for Students, London: Routledge, pp. 32–47, ISBN   978-1-032-63127-1 , retrieved 2025-11-27 Clarke, Nick. Prototyping and Modelmaking for Product Design. Laurence King Publishing, 2014.
  21. ↑ Datar, Srikant; Jordan, Clark; Kekre, Sunder; Rajiv, Surendra; Srinivasan, Kannan (1997-04). "New Product Development Structures and Time-to-Market". Management Science Ulrich, Karl T., and Steven D. Eppinger. “New Product Development Structures and Time-to-Market.” Management Science, vol. 42, no. 3, 1996, pp. 454–55. JSTOR. 43 (4): 452–464. doi:10.1287/mnsc.43.4.452. ISSN   0025-1909.{{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |journal= at position 19 (help)
  22. ↑ Aldoy, Noor; Andrew Evans, Mark (2020-12-10). "An Investigation into a Digital Strategy for Industrial Design Education". International Journal of Art & Design Education Vande Zande, Robin. “An Investigation into a Digital Strategy for Industrial Design Education.” Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, vol. 18, no. 3, 2013, pp. 1–5. EBSCO. 40 (1): 283–302. doi:10.1111/jade.12334. ISSN   1476-8062.{{cite journal}}: line feed character in |journal= at position 52 (help)
  23. ↑ Swink, Morgan (2002-07). "Product Development—Faster, On-Time". Research-Technology Management Roda, Irene. “Product Development—Faster, On-Time.” Engineering Management Journal, vol. 29, no. 3, 2017, pp. 198–205. EBSCO. 45 (4): 50–58. doi:10.1080/08956308.2002.11671511. ISSN   0895-6308.{{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |journal= at position 31 (help)
  24. ↑ Ilg, Julian; Wuttke, Claas Christian; Siefert, Andre (2018). "Systematic Prototyping of Product-Service Systems". Procedia CIRP Cavalieri, Sergio, and Marco Taisch. “Systematic Prototyping of Product-Service Systems.” Procedia CIRP, vol. 47, 2016, pp. 190–95. ScienceDirect. 73: 50–55. doi:10.1016/j.procir.2018.03.320. ISSN   2212-8271.{{cite journal}}: line feed character in |journal= at position 14 (help)
  25. ↑ Jones, John Christopher; Thornley, Denis G (1963). Conference on design methods. Pergamon Press.
  26. ↑ Page, J.K. (1963). A Review of the Papers Presented at the Conference. p. 212.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  27. ↑ Archer, L Bruce (1968). The Structure of Design Processes. Royal College of Art.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  28. ↑ DRS, Design Research Society. "DRS Conference volumes". DRS Digital Library. DRS. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  29. ↑ Design Research Society, ed. (1973). "The Design Activity International Conference, 1973". DRS Conference Volumes. Design Research Society: 192.
  30. ↑ Jacques, R; Powell, J., eds. (1981). "Proceedings of the Design Research Society International Conference, 1980: Design: Science: Method". DRS Conference Volumes. Guildford, IPC Business Press Limited: 224–229.
  31. ↑ Hallgrimssom, Bjarki (2012). Prototyping and modelmaking for product design. Laurence King Publishing. ISBN   978-1-78067-446-9. OCLC   1145028866.
  32. 1 2 Blomkvist, Johan (2014). Representing future situations of service: prototyping in service design. Linköping University Electronic Press.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
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