Design prototyping: Difference between revisions

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<!-- EDIT BELOW THIS LINE -->'''Design prototyping''' in its broader definition comprises the actions to make, test and analyse a [[prototype]], a [[Physical_modelPhysical model|model]] or a [[mockup]] according to one or various purposes in different stages <ref name="Blom_Holm">{{Cite journal|last1=Blomkvist|first1=Johan|last2=Holmlid|first2=Stefan|date=2011|title=Existing prototyping perspectives: Considerations for service design|journal=Nordes 4}}</ref> of the [[design|design process]]. <ref name="Floyd">{{Cite book|last=Floyd|first=Christiane|title=A systematic look at prototyping|work=In Approaches to prototyping|publisher=Springer|year=1984|___location=Berlin, Heidelberg|pages=1–18}}</ref> <ref name="Stickdorn">{{Cite book|last1=Stickdorn|first1=Marc|url=|title=This is service design doing : applying service design thinking in the real world : a practitioner's handbook|last2=Hormess|first2=Markus Edgar|last3=Lawrence|first3=Adam|last4=Schneider|first4=Jakob|date=2018|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|others=Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence, Jakob Schneider|year=2018|isbn=978-1-4919-2718-2|edition=1st|___location=Sebastopol, CA|oclc=922913141}}</ref> Other definitions consider ''prototyping'' as the methods or techniques for making a prototype (e.g., [[Rapid prototyping|rapid prototyping techniques]]), <ref name=":0" /> or a stage in the design process (prototype development, prototype or prototyping).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Archer|first=L. Bruce|title=The structure of the design process|work=Design methods in architecture|publisher=Lund Humphries, Bradford and London|year=1969|pages=76–102}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hasso Plattner Institute of Design|url=https://web.stanford.edu/~mshanks/MichaelShanks/files/509554.pdf|title=An introduction to design thinking: process guide|year=2010}}</ref><ref name="Stickdorn" /><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Friis Dam|first1=Rikke|last2=Yu Siang|first2=Teo|year=2019|title=Stage 4 in the Design Thinking Process: Prototype|url=https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/stage-4-in-the-design-thinking-process-prototype|url-status=live|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Interaction Design Foundation}}</ref> 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),<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Thomke|first=Stefan H.|date=1998|title=Managing Experimentation in the Design of New Products|url=http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.44.6.743|journal=Management Science|language=en|volume=44|issue=6|pages=743–762|doi=10.1287/mnsc.44.6.743|issn=0025-1909}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frayling|first=Christopher|title=Research in art and design|publisher=Royal College of Art|year=1993|volume=1|___location=London|pages=1–5|issue=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Stappers|first1=Pieter Jan|url=https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/research-through-design|title=Research through design|last2=Giaccardi|first2=Elisa|work=The encyclopedia of human-computer interaction|publisher=The Interaction Design Foundation|year=2017|pages=1–94}}</ref>

== Background ==

Initial references to the concept of prototyping in design could be traced to the proceedings of the ''Conference on Design Methods'' <ref>{{Cite book|last1=Jones|first1=John Christopher|title=Conference on design methods|last2=Thornley|first2=Denis G|publisher=Pergamon Press|year=1963}}</ref> in 1962:

{{Blockquote|text="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."|author=J.K. Page <ref>{{Cite book|last=Page|first=J.K.|title=A Review of the Papers Presented at the Conference|work=Conference on Design Methods|year=1963|pages=212}}</ref>}}

In 1968, [[L. Bruce Archer|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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Archer|first=L Bruce|title=The Structure of Design Processes|work=Thesis|publisher=Royal College of Art|year=1968}}</ref> 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|Design Research Society's]] Conferences.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Design Research Society |last1=DRS |title=DRS Conference volumes |url=https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/conference-volumes/index.2.html |website=DRS Digital Library |publisher=DRS |access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref> 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; <ref>{{cite book|url=https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/conference-volumes/2|title=The Design Activity International Conference, 1973|date=1973|publisher=Design Research Society|editor1-last=Design Research Society|pages=192}}</ref> or describing modelling (creating a model) and model simulation. <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/conference-volumes/4|title=Proceedings of the Design Research Society International Conference, 1980: Design: Science: Method|publisher=Guildford, IPC Business Press Limited|year=1981|editor-last=Jacques|editor-first=R|pages=224–229|editor-last2=Powell|editor-first2=J.}}</ref>

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'' <ref name="Floyd" /> 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.

[[File:3D printing functional prototypes.jpg|thumb|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 [[3D printing|additive manufacturing]] (i.e., adding material) or [[Machining|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]], [[User experience design|experience design]],<ref name="Buchenau">{{Cite journal|last1=Buchenau|first1=Marion|last2=Suri|first2=Jane Fulton|date=2000|title=Experience prototyping|url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/347642.347802?casa_token=aJCXf4G3Ze8AAAAA:ts_focl2ekhyxQwk9e5X22FX0BUq1TtuehKRpI9hsJmtY6KdT937jKOKpN1C3vtdLv_cYCTLmUA|journal=Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques|pages=424–433|doi=10.1145/347642.347802|isbn=1581132190|s2cid=6481095}}</ref> [[product design]] <ref>{{Cite book|last=Hallgrimssom|first=Bjarki|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1145028866|title=Prototyping and modelmaking for product design|publisher=Laurence King Publishing|year=2012|isbn=978-1-78067-446-9|oclc=1145028866}}</ref> and [[service design]], <ref name="Blom_Holm" /> <ref name="Blom">{{Cite book|last=Blomkvist|first=Johan|url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A712357&dswid=-1860|title=Representing future situations of service: prototyping in service design|work=Doctoral dissertation|publisher=Linköping University Electronic Press|year=2014}}</ref> <ref name="Stickdorn" /> as well as in product-design-related fields such as engineering/mechanical design.<ref name="Stowe">{{Cite book|last=Stowe|first=David|title=Investigating the Role of Prototyping in Mechanical Design Using Case Study Validation|work=Master Thesis|publisher=Clemson University|year=2008}}</ref><ref name="Camburn">{{Cite journal|last1=Camburn|first1=Bradley|last2=Viswanathan|first2=Vimal|last3=Linsey|first3=Julie|last4=Anderson|first4=David|last5=Jensen|first5=Daniel|last6=Crawford|first6=Richard|last7=Otto|first7=Kevin|last8=Wood|first8=Kristin|date=2017|title=Design prototyping methods: state of the art in strategies, techniques, and guidelines|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470117000105/type/journal_article|journal=Design Science|language=en|volume=3|pages=e13|doi=10.1017/dsj.2017.10|s2cid=116507313|issn=2053-4701}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Buchenau" /> 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,<ref name="Blom" /> which later in 2018 were also used as a reference for service design practitioners.<ref name="Stickdorn" />

== 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: <ref name="Floyd" /> <ref name="Ulrich">{{Cite book|last1=Ulrich|first1=Karl T.|url=|title=Product design and development|last2=Eppinger|first2=Steven D.|date=2012|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-340477-6|edition=5th|___location=New York|oclc=706677610}}</ref> <ref name="Stickdorn" />

[[File:Paper prototype of website user interface, 2015-04-16.jpg|thumb|Paper prototype of a website user interface]]

# Preparation: to decide about 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.

# Making: some or various dimensions will be represented in a prototype (e.g., material, form or function) <ref name="Lim">{{Cite journal|last1=Lim|first1=Youn-Kyung|last2=Stolterman|first2=Erik|last3=Tenenberg|first3=Josh|date=2008|title=The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as manifestations of design ideas|url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1375761.1375762|journal=ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction|language=en|volume=15|issue=2|pages=1–27|doi=10.1145/1375761.1375762|s2cid=9985664|issn=1073-0516}}</ref> employing an appropiate 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 [[Sketch (drawing)|sketches]] were previously another category of visual design representations,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pei|first1=Eujin|last2=Campbell|first2=Ian|last3=Evans|first3=Mark|date=2011|title=A taxonomic classification of visual design representations used by industrial designers and engineering designers|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175630610X12877385838803|journal=The Design Journal|volume=14|issue=1|pages=64–91|doi=10.2752/175630610X12877385838803|s2cid=108653894}}</ref> today they could also be considered prototypes in service design. <ref name="Stickdorn"/>

# Testing: the prototyping session develops in a defined setup with certain characteristics of space and environment and will follow a method to gather feedback.

# Analysing: the results of the testing will be integrated into the solution and updated in the following prototype versions.[[File:UX prototyping 4.jpg|thumb|User experience (UX) prototyping: testing of a mobile application]]

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== 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. <ref name="Stickdorn"/> In this regard, the prototyping framework proposed by Blomkvist and Holmid could provide some guidelines. <ref name="Blom_Holm"/> As a result of a literature review, they identify a set of characteristics which are:

{{bulleted list |Position in the process |Purpose |Stakeholer |Activity |Prototype}}

=== Position in the process ===

[[File:Double-diamond-process.jpg|thumb|Double Diamond inspired in the [[Design Council|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. <ref name="Blom_Holm" /> <ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sanders|first1=Elizabeth B.-N.|last2=Stappers|first2=Pieter Jan|date=2014-01-02|title=Probes, toolkits and prototypes: three approaches to making in codesigning|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15710882.2014.888183|journal=CoDesign|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=5–14|doi=10.1080/15710882.2014.888183|s2cid=108955372|issn=1571-0882}}</ref> 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 ===

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{{bulleted list

|''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.<ref name="Ulrich"/> <ref name="Buchenau"/> <ref name="Stowe"/> <ref name="Blom_Holm"/> <ref name="Camburn"/> <ref name="Stickdorn"/>

|''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. <ref name="Floyd"/> <ref name="Buchenau"/> <ref name="Blom_Holm"/> <ref name="Camburn"/> <ref name="Stickdorn"/>

|''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. <ref name="Buchenau"/> <ref name="Blom_Holm"/> <ref name="Stickdorn"/>

|''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.<ref name="Floyd"/>

|''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. <ref name="Ulrich"/> <ref name="Stowe"/> <ref name="Stickdorn"/>

|''Evolution:'' prototyping could be developed to incrementally improve a prototype until it is refined to get the final solution <ref name="Floyd"/> <ref name="Camburn"/>}}

=== 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. <ref name="Blom_Holm" /> 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. <ref name="Floyd" /> <ref name="Blom_Holm" />

=== Prototype ===

[[File:Design Thinking Workshop WMDE Prototyp Wiki-Dorf.jpg|thumb|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" <ref name="Stickdorn" /> or comprise various of these components.<ref name="Blom_Holm" />

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). <ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Houde|first1=Stephanie|last2=Hill|first2=Charles|date=1997|title=What do prototypes prototype?|url=http://www.itu.dk/people/malmborg/Interaktionsdesign/Kompendie/Houde-Hill-1997.pdf|journal=Handbook of Human-computer Interaction|publication-place=North-Holland|pages=367–381|doi=10.1016/B978-044481862-1.50082-0|isbn=9780444818621}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Lim" /> They suggest these dimensions can be pondered in order to decide how the prototype should be.

{{Blockquote|text="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”|author=Lim, Stolterman and Tenenberg, 2008 <ref name="Lim" />}}

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* [[Prototype]]

* [[Physical_modelPhysical model|Model]]

* [[Mockup]]

* [[Rapid prototyping]]

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* [[Product design]]

* [[Service design]]

* [[Participatory design|Participatory design - co-design]]<br />

== References ==

{{Reflist}}