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Mahtani, Raunak; Umstead, Kelly; Gill, Carolina

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Prototypes are integral tools designers, engineers and other creatives utilize for developing solutions. In the broadest sense, the term ‘prototype’ may mean different things, and may be the means to different ends. Prototypes play a significant role in idea generation in the early stage of design projects. Successful prototypes are thoughtful about their purpose and context of usage. This makes it important to understand how attributes of the prototype and prototyping process affect the design process.

The landscape of design is evolving– increasingly sophisticated technology is used in the prototyping process. Designers are constantly working to streamline processes and maintain efficiencies. Multiple stakeholders and end-users are increasingly involved throughout the design, which makes collaborative prototyping and co-creation a valuable activity. This paper aims to apply a broader understanding of prototyping processes and their effects to better inform solutions for successful early stage prototyping in such an evolving landscape of design. The work investigates attributes of prototyping such as modality (physical versus digital), fidelity (high versus low), materials and processes used, effort and time spent, in order to understand how design decisions are guided and informed by the prototyping process.

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prototyping, industrial design, product design, product development, engineering, technology, collaboration