5.0 – Prototype Module Overview

Introduction

I hope you have some good ideas for responding to your problem from that last module, as well as have fun ideating! Now begins the tougher part of ideation, deciding which of the ideas to prototype. I have three bits of advice for you when it comes to prototype: Keep It Cheap, Be Speedy, and Don’t Fall in Love. By keeping it cheap, it will allow you to make low-cost prototypes with minimal investment, which will increase your budget so you can make several of them. When it comes to being speedy, you need to be able to produce your prototypes quickly, so there is not much downtime, and that will setup you for more time to test. Finally, and most importantly, don’t fall in love with your prototype. Odds are you are going to develop several prototypes, and falling in love with a prototype can be come a barrier to cheap, speedy development of new iterations.

Design Thinking Objective

Students will be able to articulate their prototype by creating a storyboard of it.

EdTech Objective

Students will focus on their ability to annotate and design images to communicate information.

Module 5 Activities

• • 5.1 – Complete a FlipGrid post and record a response to at least one classmate

  • 5.2 – Read about famous tech prototypes and view the impact of a minimally viable product

  • 5.3 – Annotate the low cost and speedy features of a prototype

  • 5.4 – Create a storyboard to document your prototype

5.1 – FlipGrid Post

Directions:

Prototyping is the next stage of Design Thinking, and this stage harnesses the ideas from the Ideation stage and makes them! So, looking back at your list of ideas, can you identify one or two of them that you could prototype? In addition, what form will the prototype take? Will it be a digital prototype (e.g., website, wireframe, PPT slide) or a physical prototype (e.g., a 3D printout, a device/model, drawing). Remember, no matter which way you go, the prototype must be inexpensive!

Access:

Direct link to this FlipGrid post.

5.2 – Famous Tech Prototypes

Directions:

The two main rules of prototyping is that it has to be cheap and quick (and don’t fall in love with your prototype!). When creating a prototype, the goal is to develop something that is minimally viable, meaning it represents the key functionality of the future product, but without all the glamour of the fully developed product. Because you’ll be creating a minimally viable prototype (MVP), you’ll want to keep costs down because you’ll most likely be making changes to it. For that same reason, you’ll want to be fast, so you can get your MVP in front of potential users who will provide you with feedback for improving your MVP. (Again, keeping costs low is crucial for speedy iteration and development.) Before launching into the development of your MVP, first take a look back at some of tech’s most famous prototypes by reading this blog about these MVPs.

Once you’ve checked out the blog, watch this short video about the “Hippo Rollers” to further demonstrate the impact a minimally viable product can have on entire communities.

View the Hippo Roller YouTube video

Access:

Direct link to the blog.

Direct link to the Hippo Roller YouTube video.

5.3 – Annotate that Prototype

Directions:

This activity requires you to locate a prototype and point out its low cost features by annotating it using svoter.com. To complete this activity, please do the following:

• 1. Locate an image of a prototype in an area that interests you (e.g., technology, toys, cars, fashion, etc.). Using a search engine’s “Image” feature may provide you with a tool to locating a prototype quickly, and SearchAll provides access to several search engines and search options.

  2. Download the image to your computer and then upload it into svoter.com, a tool for annotating images. At this point, take a moment and play with the tool’s features and functionalities.

  3. Once the image is in svoter.com and you’ve familiarized yourself with the tool, add three annotations that pinpoint the prototype’s characteristics. For example, identify what made the prototype able to be quickly produced while still being low cost and minimally viable. Please use complete thoughts.

  4. After the image has been annotated, add a comment in the “Reply” box below that includes the link to your annotated image and a brief description of the prototype that addresses what product, service, or device is prototyped in the image along with happened to the prototype (e.g., did it go on to change the world, get modified significantly, or was not successful).

Access:

Direct link to Svoter.

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5.4 – Prototype Your Idea!

Directions:

Now that you’ve had a chance to see and learn some essentials for prototyping, it’s time for you to try it! For this module, you will prototype the idea you think has the most potential that you brainstormed for the Ideation module. To guide this process, you will create a storyboard of your prototype using Canva. Once you arrive at Canva, search “storyboard” and then select a template.

Access:

Direct link to Canva.