Prototype Thinking

Prototype - Start to Create Solutions

In line with the fourth principle of the Design thinking

process, the Tangibility Rule, this is where startup
incubatees get theoretical ideas out of your head and
into the physical world. Startup will be tasked to
create Flowchart, Low Fidelity Mockups, High Fidelity
Prototype, or anything necessary to help team
members visualize the solution to the problem.
GOAL
▪ Learn
A picture is worth a thousand words; a
prototype is worth a thousand pictures.

▪ Explore

Build to think and spark additional ideas.

▪ Fail quickly and cheaply

Test ideas without investing too much time

and money.
 Fail early, fail often
▪ A first or preliminary model of ▪ The better it looks, the more
something. narrow the feedback.
▪ Failure is simply part of
▪ Prototypes may show what something understanding and
looks or feels like, or how it operates. improving.

▪ Prototypes make things tangible.

▪ It is made to test other peoples’

reaction, and to help you learn and
gain insights into what your ideas
mean to the people you are designing
for.
 Low Fidelity Mockups
▪ Demonstrate Functionality,
(Look)& Feel of your ▪ Don‘t try to be too perfect. “Key
Solution functionality and screen flow is
key, rather than finalized
▪ Compose low fidelity screenshots.“
mockups by using
traditional material.
Low Fidelity Prototypes
Low-fidelity prototyping involves the use of basic
models or examples of the product being tested. For
example, the model might be incomplete and utilize
just a few of the features that will be available in the
final design, or it might be constructed using materials
not intended for the finished article, such as wood,
paper, or metal for a plastic product. Low fidelity
prototypes can either be models that are cheaply and
easily made, or simply recounts or visualizations.
Examples of low-fidelity prototypes:

▪ Storyboarding
▪ Sketching
▪ Card sorting
▪ ‘Wizard of Oz’

Pros of low-fidelity prototyping:

▪ Quick and inexpensive
▪ Possible to make instant changes and test new iterations.
▪ Disposable/throw-away.
▪ Enables the designer to gain an overall view of the product using minimal
time and effort, as opposed to focusing on the finer details over the
course of slow, incremental changes.
▪ Available to all; regardless of ability and experience, we are able to
produce rudimentary versions of products in order to test users or canvas
the opinions of stakeholders.
▪ Encourages and fosters design thinking.
Cons of low-fidelity prototyping:

▪ An inherent lack of realism. Due to the basic and sometimes sketchy

nature of low-fidelity prototypes, the applicability of results generated
by tests involving simple early versions of a product may lack validity.
▪ Depending on your product, the production of low-fidelity prototypes
may not be appropriate for your intended users. For instance, if you
are developing a product bound by a number of contextual constraints
and/or dispositional constraints (i.e. physical characteristics of your
user base, such as users with disabilities) then basic version that do
not reflect the nature, appearance of feel of the finished product may
be of scant use; revealing very little of the eventual user experience.
▪ Such prototypes often remove control from the user, as they generally
have to interact in basic ways or simply inform an evaluator,
demonstrate or write a blow-by-blow account of how they would use
the finished product.
High Fidelity Prototypes
High-fidelity prototypes are prototypes that look and operate closer to the finished
product. For example, a 3D plastic model with movable parts (allowing users to
manipulate and interact with a device in the same manner as the final design) is
high-fidelity in comparison to, say, a wooden block. Likewise, an early version of a
software system developed using a design program such as Sketch or Adobe
Illustrator is high-fi in comparison to a paper prototype.

Pros of high-fidelity prototyping

▪ Engaging: the stakeholders can instantly see their vision realized and will be able
to judge how well it mees their expectations, wants and needs.
▪ User testing involving high-fidelity prototypes will allow the evaluators to gather
information with a high level of validity and applicability. The closer the
prototype is to the finished product, the more confidence the design team will
have in how people will respond to, interact with and perceive the design.
Cons of high-fidelity prototyping

▪ They generally take much longer to produce than low-fi prototypes.

▪ When testing prototypes, test users are more inclined to focus and comment
on superficial characteristics, as opposed to the content
▪ After devoting hours and hours of time producing an accurate model of how a
product will appear and behave, designers are often loath to make changes.
▪ Software prototypes may give test users a false impression of how good the
finished article may be.
▪ Making changes to prototypes can take a long time, thus delaying the entire
project in the process. However, low-fi prototypes can usually be changed with
our hours, if not minutes, for example when sketching or paper prototyping
methods are utilized.

With everything taken into consideration it should be no surprise that low-

fidelity prototyping is what is more preferred in the early stages of Design
Thinking, while high-fi prototyping is used during the later stages, when the
test questions are more refined.
Guidelines when Prototyping
It is important for startup incubatees to remember that prototypes are supposed to be quick and easy tests
of design solutions. The following are a few guidelines the will help startup incubatees in the Prototyping
stage:

Just Start Building

Design Thinking has a bias towards action: that means if the startup incubate has any uncertainties about
what they are trying to achieve, their best bet is to just make something. Creating a prototype will help them
think about their idea in a concrete manner, and potentially allow the team to gain insights into ways they
can improve their idea.

Don’t Spend Too Much Time

Prototyping is all about speed; the longer the startup incubatee spends building a prototype, the more
emotionally attached they can get to their idea, thus hampering their ability to objectively judge its merits.

Remember What You’re Testing For

All prototypes should have a central testing issue. Do not lose sight of that issue, but at the same time, do
not get so bound to it so as to lose sight of other lessons the team could learn from.

Build with the User in Mind

Test the prototype against the expected user behavior and user needs. Then, learn from the gaps in
expectations and realities, and improve on the ideas.
Principles of prototype
thinking
Separate conjectures
from actuals

Conjecture:
An opinion or conclusion formed on the
basis of incomplete information.
Stay close to the
medium
 Maximize the rate of
learning by reducing
time to try new ideas
Only use as much effort
as you have confidence
Nail it before you scale it
 Principles of Prototype Thinking

Separate Stay close to Maximize the Only use as Nail it before

conjectures the medium rate of much effort as you scale it
from actuals learning by you have
reducing time confidence
to try new
ideas
8 types of prototypes
8 Types of Prototypes
Conversation Scripts
Physical Props
Role Play
Paper
Video Performance
Packaging
Paper App Screens
Interaction
Prototype Thinking