Design prototyping: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:08, 18 June 2021

Revision as of 14:09, 18 June 2021

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{{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 |author1=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.