Why Designers Prototype?

As designers, we have a key activity in the design process called prototyping which allows us to create representation of the design we intend to finalize. Prototypes help convey the value of the design to different audiences. Audiences may include designers, users and clients. Through active engagement with prototypes, these audiences are influencing the design decisions. Prototype itself could be looked as a process where creation, testing and feedback could be considered as steps in this process.

Prototype creation may involve selection of appropriate materials, creating environment (which may include spatial arrangement of objects or people or both with respect to each other) etc. Testing a prototype may require certain controlled conditions for the prototype to function as desired. Lastly, Feedback from prototypes, could be most important factor in making design decision and something that could steer design process in certain direction.

Without prototypes we cannot test validity of our design. Prototypes produce answers and feedback to designers’ questions about proposed solution.1 Designers through ideation arrive at certain conclusions about the solution to a specific problem. They have learned about the problem and now they are inclined towards a particular solution. Prototyping at this stage could help designers get feedback about the solution from client/users and based on the response the designer could finalize the specifications or make changes that will more be in line user/client’s requirement.

Prototypes could be useful in many situations and based on correct selection of different elements, elements such as context, time for development, desired outcome of prototype process, availability of resources, quality of simulation desired, etc., we could have multiple aspects of prototyping. E.g. based on purpose we could have prototypes for understanding existing user experience, we could also have prototypes for exploring and evaluating design ideas and prototypes for communicating ideas.2 Based on time for development, availability of resources and/or requirement of the audience, we could have high fidelity prototypes or we could have low fidelity ones.

Prototyping influences not just the way designers but also users think. Users should interact with prototype the way they would with the actual product. This helps designers find use patterns and information about User-Product combined environment. Consideration of non-tangible factors during prototyping, such as contextual factors, talking, acting, stimulating perfect condition and psychological comfort, could have effect on the way design decisions are made after prototyping.

Design is so complex process that there is no direct path between the designer’s intention and the outcome.3 Often the design process generates new set of problems, we could call it side effects, when we try to find solution to a problem.

It’s not like designers have solutions to problems in their head. It’s a progressive process. As designers go along, they form judgement based on the response, backtalk, from the medium. Prototyping process is focused on user and its interaction with the prototype. Based on input from user during prototyping designers form a judgement. Hence user in the process becomes designer. User drives the design after his encounter with the product.

So to sum it up prototyping is inseparable part of design process. All products are open ended and evolving and there is no perfect design. Having said that, designers should always strive to better the design. Prototyping is the means through which designers can achieve this. Prototyping is very crucial in decision making process and may lead to deciding direction for the final design. Designers prototype so that they could analyse product-user engagement in an interactive environment. Few iterations of prototyping would result in improved user experience. As designers, we should definitely use prototyping as a tool for a better delivery of the final product.

1   Buchenau, M., & Suri, J. (2000). Experience prototyping. Paper presented at the 424-433. doi:10.1145/347642.347802

2  Buchenau, M., & Suri, J. (2000). Experience prototyping. Paper presented at the 424-433. doi:10.1145/347642.347802

3  Winograd, T. (1996). Bringing design to software. New York, N.Y: ACM Press.