8. prototyping . . . is the iterative generation of artifacts intended to answer questions that get you closer to your final solution is creating a concrete embodiment of a concept which become a way to test your hypotheses is building to think
10. prototype: why? to gain empathy to explore to test to inspire understand the design space build to think test and refine solutions inspire with your prototype
19. prototype: how? prototype resolution should match the progress of your development identify the variable you want to explore create experiences let go of your prototypes
While many people think of a prototype as a rough version of a physical product, prototypes actually span a much wider range of artifacts and experiences, and serve a variety of purposes for designers. This slide demonstrates the range of possibilities for prototypes—scope of what can be prototypedTwo points: prototypes aren’t just THINGS, and they serve a specific purpose.Severalpics from B. Moggridge Prototyping lecture from Transformative design. Product “looks like”: http://andrewmckinney.com/assets/2009/1/22/iphone-testing.JPG; movie script: http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh54/Arbiter2732/HaloMovieScript02.jpghttp://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh54/Arbiter2732/HaloMovieScript02.jpg
Since today is all about analogies, we wanted to bring the concept of prototyping back, but do so under the guise of prototyping. Today we’re going to talk about prototyping in analogous situations and give some examples of how teams have done this in the past. We’re also going to circle back on a question that was asked a couple of weeks ago—there was a request for more examples of prototyping intangibles, so we’re going to give a few more great examples of this as well.
So first, prototyping using analogous situations. First of all, they are extremely helpful if the context that you are working in is inaccessible. This comes up all the time in the Extreme Affordability course and in other situations in which you are designing something for someone that is far away are hard to interact with on a daily basis. Especially right now as you work on your project with PAMF—you are lucky to have GREAT access to the clinic and to real patients, but what other situations might elicit the same feelings that ‘going to the doctor’ does, and how might you immerse yourself in these contexts. Also, as you start to produce low-resolution prototypes, in case the solution is intrusive or just hard to test in the real clinic setting, what is an analogous way that you might test your solution concept? Prototyping using analogous situations can also be helpful if you’re stuck. Prototyping in analogous situations can almost feel like brainstorming when you’re stuck. If your prototypes are not eliciting helpful responses, maybe you are taking everything too literally. Try prototyping for a different setting! A student in the Extreme Affordability class a few years ago did this when they were trying to design a more affordable space for inhalers for children. The solutions that they were considering were just not stellar—they looked similar to the existing solutions out on the market, and were only a few dollars cheaper than the current. So they thought ‘where else might people want to inhale things in a low cost way?’ They found a book called ‘build your own bong’ and struck gold. Eventually they produced a spacer that cost only pennies and was made completely out of folded paper. Last of all, prototyping in analogous situations can be helpful if the problem is intangible. Services, business plans, organizations—it often helps to make the intangible tangible in order to test ideas. So now some examples….
A second example is from thed.school’s Play class a few years back. The class was working with JetBlue to improve the call-waiting experience. One team, the day before the project was due, had finally come up with a solution that they were excited about, but they needed to test it without programming an entire call-waiting experience and using the very non-engaging activity of people talking on the phone. Where do people have a similar experience of waiting in a long line? The post office!
The students (debmeisel and franciscofranco) dressed up as superhero placeholders and went to work.
There idea was that they would find someone who was waiting in the long line, and hold their place for them.
The customer could then go run other errands (go to the bookstore, go to the ATM)
and the superhero place holder would call them when they were next in line.
Their solution was brilliant, and the outcome was many happy customers that were able to efficiently run their errands. To tie this back to JetBlue, the idea was that when you called JetBlue, they would take down your phone number, and call YOU back when it was your turn in line, rather than having you wait on the phone for hours. The prototype was brilliant in that it first of all communicated the story and the experience in such a compelling way. Secondly, they were able to elicit powerful feedback since their solution was so hands-on and action-oriented.
