Prototype
Prototyping Means Bringing Your Ideas to Life
Before you engage in this method, review what Prototyping is in the Design Thinking process.
Ask yourself:
- What will you create to test the most important assumptions you have about your product or service?
- What are the core assumptions/parts of your Minimal Viable Product (MVP)? (link: Minimum Viable Product: You're Doing It Wrong! by Development That Pays)
- How will you test your MVP quickly?
- Who can you get to test it?
Prototyping Methods
- Paul: Cheap Fast Prototypes | Low-Fidelity Prototypes & User Research | Rapid Prototyping | Udacity by Udacity (0:51). Reminder that prototypes are meant to be used and thrown out.
- Tom Chi on Rapid Prototyping | Startup Accelerator | SU Labs by Singularity University (3:22). Tom Chi talks about the most important aspects of rapid prototyping.
- Rapid prototyping Google Glass - Tom Chi by TED-Ed (8:08). Example and concepts of how Google Glass was prototyped quickly.
- Prototyping: Learn Eight Common Methods and Best Practices by Rikke Dam and Teo Siang (article). Use sketches and diagrams, paper, storyboards, lego or other simple objects, role-playing, physical models, and prototypes with faked functions.
- Learning Loop by DIY Toolkit for tracking insights and adjustments.
- Prototype Testing Plan by DIY Toolkit for figuring out what you need to prototype and what you learn from each test.
- Week 04 IDEO (2:35). High level ‘why’ of making your ideas real for prospective audiences.
Sticking Points
Here are some common challenges and tips for building prototypes.
- Q: We're not sure what it means to build a prototype. What are we supposed to build?
- A: Check out A Google X Co-Founder’s Ingenious Technique to Rapid Prototype Socially Responsible Products by Mike Del Ponte, Fast Company (article). Includes Tom Chi’s TED Talk (14:14) on the purpose of prototyping to learn quickly.
- A: Try Design Thinking: Get Started with Prototyping by Rikke Dam and Teo Siang. Overview of the purpose of prototyping.
- A: Try to Determine What to Prototype from IDEO. A quick few steps to run through.
- Q: How do we build a prototype?
- A: Try Rapid Prototyping from IDEO. A step-by-step guide.
References
Dam, Rikke, and Teo Siang. “Design Thinking: Get Started with Prototyping.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-thinking-get-started-with-prototyping.
Dam, Rikke, and Teo Siang. “Prototyping: Learn Eight Common Methods and Best Practices.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/prototyping-learn-eight-common-methods-and-best-practices.
Design Kit. “Determine What to Prototype.” Design Kit, ideo.org, http://www.designkit.org/methods/34.
Design Kit. “Rapid Prototyping.” Design Kit, ideo.org, http://www.designkit.org/methods/26.
Design Thinking for Educators. “Week 4 IDEO”. Vimeo video, 2:36. Posted [Apr 2016]. https://vimeo.com/46066963.
Development That Pays. “3 Awesome Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)”. YouTube video, 1:10. Posted [2012]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPJoq_QVsY4.
DIY Toolkit. “Learning Loop.” DYI Development, Impact & You, http://diytoolkit.org/tools/learning-loop/.
DIY Toolkit. “Prototype Testing Plan.” DYI Development, Impact & You, http://diytoolkit.org/tools/prototype-testing-plan/.
Ponte, Mike Del. “A Google X Co-Founder's Ingenious Technique To Rapid Prototype Socially Responsible Products.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 2 Apr. 2014, www.fastcompany.com/3028114/a-google-x-co-founders-ingenious-technique-to-rapid-prototype-socially-responsible-products.
TED-Ed. “Rapid prototyping Google Glass - Tom Chi”. YouTube video, 8:08. Posted [Jan 2013]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5_h1VuwD6g.
Udacity. “Paul: Cheap Fast Prototypes | Low-Fidelity Prototypes & User Research | Rapid Prototyping | Udacity”. YouTube video, 0:51. Posted [Apr 2016]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLjllmTxk4I.