In this video, we will explore in more detail what prototypes are.
We'll look at how they can help us understand the user's experience,
and from there refine our design ideas.
Prototypes are one of the many ways to communicate your design.
They're a physical model or simulation of a final design.
Unlike sketching and wireframing,
a prototype is not about conceptualizing your design,
it's about experiencing it.
Prototyping typically comes after you've spent some time conceptualizing your design.
Using methods like personas, sketches or wireframes.
Prototyping is a low-cost high reward activity that can
provide insight into how your design will be experienced by its users.
It reduces miscommunication between teams and helps you catch mistakes early.
In this way, prototyping is still part of the larger process of iterative design.
By building prototypes and learning from them or breaking them and then rebuilding them,
you refine, focus and evolve your final design idea.
There are a few things to consider when approaching building
a prototype. Who is your audience?
This question will help determine the fidelity of the prototype.
Initially, your audience might just be yourself or your team,
in which case you can start simple, paper,
Lego or HTML might be all you need to effectively experience your design idea.
But your end goal might be users, the public,
a client or an investor in each of
these cases you have to plan the fidelity of the prototype accordingly.
Digital fabrication methods are an excellent way to
build low fidelity physical prototypes.
This includes methods such as 3D printing and laser cutting.
These methods are relatively cheap and accessible,
and they provide you with an object that might look and feel similar to the final design.
Physical computing devices are
small computers which allow you to prototype digital functionality.
These devices are programmable with simple code that allows you to create
working, physical prototypes and even create devices that interact with smart phones,
websites and the environment.
This includes popular rapid prototyping platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
In planning for your prototype,
you'll need to identify what materials or technologies will be needed to create it.
This might sound easier than it is.
Depending on your design,
there might be more than one way to go about building
it and lots of unknowns along the way.
Each design idea is unique and might require a different level of planning.
Todd Warfel, a UX designer suggests
planning up to 70 percent of your design is a good place to start.
This allows for you to discover new things and follow
your ideas you might find in the process of prototyping.
And as you get feedback along the way,
you can make modifications to your design.
You should prototype only what you need.
All prototypes are incomplete.
It might be the case that several prototypes,
each representing a part of a single design might
allow your audience to better experience your design idea.
Prototyping iteratively on small sections of
your design has a positive investment to benefit ratio.
You reduce the risk of wasting your time,
materials and energy if you discover
something new along the way and want to change it in the overall design.
Working incrementally towards the final design through prototyping is
an effective way to ensure you don't discover
problems far too late in the design process.
But what if your design idea includes a piece of
specialists technology or require
some specialized skills that you and your team don't have?
This is a common problem when we take a solution-based approach to designing.
But not to worry Wizard of Oz prototyping is a rapid prototyping technique,
where you create a mock-up of a function that would be difficult to develop quickly.
To do this, you as the designer might simulate
the function or its output when users are interacting with your prototype.
To the user, it appears as if the function was the result of a more complex system.
Using this technique, everyone can prototype
an AI based design concept or explore the experience of working with robots.
Wizard of Oz prototyping let's us approach designing for the future
or technologies that are simply too hard to implement in a low fidelity prototype.
For example, your prototype might need
the voice recognition functionality of Alexa or Siri,
which will most likely require specialist skills and
a large investment of time and energy to actually implement.
This is where Wizard of Oz prototyping comes in.
Instead of actually implementing this complex function,
you simulate its function and this allows you to demonstrate
the experience of working with more complex or even future technologies.
As Todd Warfel says in his handbook for prototyping,
"If a picture is worth a thousand words,
then a prototype is worth 10,000."
Prototypes go beyond the power of show and tell and they let you experience the design.
Good luck turning your ideas into experiences.