Fundamentals of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Week 5: Design Thinking - Prototyping and Testing

Introduction to Prototyping

Prototypes are early samples, models, or launches of items designed to test an idea or method.
Semantics may be used in a variety of domains, including design, electronics, and software
development. Prototypes are often used by system analysts and users to increase the accuracy of
a new design.

Prototyping is an important part of the Design Thinking process and is often employed in the
final testing phase. Every product has a target audience and is intended to answer one or more of
their concerns. To determine if a product really answers the issues of its consumers, designers
develop an almost-functional model or mock-up of the product, known as a prototype, and test it

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with potential users and stakeholders. Thus, prototyping enables designers to evaluate the
feasibility of the existing design and maybe explore how trial people perceive and react to the
product. It allows for appropriate testing and exploration of design ideas before committing too
many resources.
A prototype is a product that is designed to test ideas and adjustments until they approximate the
final product. You may mock up every feature and interaction in your prototype as if it were a
fully built product, test it, and validate the overall user experience (UX) strategy.
Prototyping enables you to create basic, small-scale prototypes of your goods that you may use
to watch, document, and evaluate user performance levels or the users' general behavior and
responses to the overall design. Designers may then make necessary modifications or changes in
the proper way.
Prototypes may take numerous forms, from simple sketches and storyboards to rough paper
prototypes and even role-playing prototypes that act out a service offering. They don't have to be
whole items; in fact, you may prototype a portion of one to test that aspect of your solution.
Prototypes are often brief and crude, geared for early-stage testing and comprehension, and at
others full-formed and thorough, aiming for pilot trials at the end of the project.

Why We Need to Prototype

One of the most important components of prototyping is that it creates empathy for potential
customers. In this regard, developing software and designing objects for human use are not
dissimilar. Any product built without first knowing the demands of the consumer might result in
needless features, bad design, and a slew of other issues.
Prototyping has a number of advantages, including:
Evaluate Technical Feasibility
Making a prototype allows you to concretize a concept and analyze which elements will be
challenging to execute. Prototyping may therefore reveal previously unknown physical,
technological, or budgetary restrictions.

Enhance Website Quality

You will be able to do the following with a well-designed prototype:
 Conduct testing for site usability
 Inspect site navigation
 Conveniently access information on the site
 Determine the correct placement of visual accents – what visitors should see first

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Effectively Present Ideas to Customers
Prototyping allows you to demonstrate your prospective product to potential clients before it is
ever released. It may also enable you to improve your marketing techniques and begin pre-sales.

Reduced Risks
Initiatives that have completed the prototype phase are less risky than projects that have not
completed the prototyping process. This is due to the fact that the prototype has a direct impact
on project resources, time, and money. Prototyping allows you to estimate the resources and time
required for development.

Iterate at Lower Costs

The information obtained from prospective clients via prototyping allows the product to be
improved until an optimum product is created. A smart approach is to construct numerous
prototypes before launching large production to avoid the added expenses of unsold items and
reprogramming.
Simulate the Future Product
The most significant benefit of prototyping is that it produces a model of the final product. It
may entice clients to invest in the product before any resources are allocated for deployment.
Before going into production, you may detect design flaws and verify their accuracy.

Provide Focused Feedback

Exposing the prototype allows for more concentrated client input on the intended product
attributes. This input is crucial for understanding customer wants and expectations, business
requirements, and gaining a clear picture of where the product is heading.

Planning
The design team obtains critical knowledge through prototyping that aids in implementation
planning. A prototype aids in the development of user stories and emphasizes user requirements.
This has a significant impact on scrum teams.

Quick and Easy

If a designer understands the logic and operation of the product, they may swiftly produce a
ready-to-implement prototype from a basic notion on paper.

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Lesson 4: Types of Prototyping
Prototyping techniques that are often used include:

Sketches and Diagrams

Sketching, perhaps the most basic kind of prototyping, involves little work and does not need
aesthetic drawing talents. Sketches may be used to start the process of envisioning and
constructing a new product, and they can be shared with coworkers for further ideas and
conversations.

Paper Interface
Digital goods, particularly websites, mobile applications, online services, and other screen-
related items, need a variety of prototype approaches before they can be finalized. Paper
interfaces are useful for early-stage digital product development. You can create and cut out
functional portions of a user interface, such as a drop-down menu or text field, using paper.

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Storyboards
Storyboarding is a fantastic method for conveying tales and directing targeted consumers through
a user experience. Storyboards are a strategy for early prototyping that allows you to envisage
how people will experience an issue or product and convey it in a sequence of drawings or
sketches. Stories assist us in gathering knowledge about people, objectives, and goals while also
invoking new ideas via cooperation with other designers. Extending a user's experience allows us
to better grasp their environment and think from their point of view.

Role-Playing
Role-playing or experiential prototyping allows designers to physically examine scenarios inside
the system they are targeting. Role-playing is most effective when it comes to capturing and
acting out a user's experience with a product or service. To obtain an empathetic knowledge of
users, consider mimicking their experience. To simulate the user environment, you may utilize
props, objects, and audio simulations.

Physical Models
To develop a prototype for testing a physical product, you may utilize a broad range of materials.
Physical models are often constructed from paper, cardboard, clay, foam, or repurposed things. A
physical model is a three-dimensional representation of an intangible notion. This allows for
considerably better user testing and may spark conversations about the proposed product's form
factor.

Wizard of Oz Prototypes
Wizard of Oz Prototypes are prototypes with falsified features that may be used to test
consumers. This prototype enables you to replicate some elements of your product to save time
and money, similar to how the magician in the Wizard of Oz narrative presents a scary,
deceiving image from behind a screen. Interactivity that originates from a person, rather than an
algorithm, may be modified such that people think the latter. The most famous Wizard of Oz
Prototype is a digital system prototype, in which the user is duped into thinking the system
replies are computer-generated when they are really human-controlled.

User-Driven Prototypes

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A user-driven prototype does not test on people but rather allows them to create some design in
order for you to understand more about their ideas. This form of prototyping enhances the
advantages of design thinking. Its goal is not to employ user-generated solutions but to leverage
their designs to establish empathy with them or to fine-tune your product based on their
suggestions.

Lesson 5: Experimentation in Design Thinking

The iterative and hands-on process of testing ideas, solutions, and prototypes to obtain insights,
learn, and develop a design or invention is referred to as experimentation in design thinking. It is
a critical element in the design thinking process that assists teams with validating assumptions,
understanding user requirements, and refining ideas prior to spending substantial time and
money on full-scale execution.
The following are important components of experimenting in design thinking:
1. Hypothesis formation: Before conducting experiments, design thinkers develop
hypotheses about the issue at hand and the various solutions they wish to investigate.
These assumptions are used to guide the experimental procedure.
2. Prototyping: Design thinkers develop physical prototypes or representations of their
ideas in order to test them. Depending on the context and nature of the challenge,
prototypes might range from real models, mock-ups, and wireframes, to computer
simulations.
3. Testing with users: End-users or stakeholders are involved in the experimental phase by
design thinkers. User testing gives useful feedback and insights into how effectively the
prototypes fit the requirements, pain areas, and expectations of the users.
4. Quick and iterative cycles: In design thinking, the experimentation process often
includes quick cycles of testing and learning. Teams iterate on their prototypes and ideas
in response to feedback and perform further rounds of testing.
5. Fail-fast mentality: The notion of "failing quickly and failing forward" is central to
design thinking. If a concept or prototype fails during testing, it is seen as a learning
opportunity and a chance to pivot rather than a setback.
6. Data-driven decision-making: The experimental phase places a premium on data
collecting and analysis. Insights collected from user feedback and performance indicators
aid in making educated judgments about whether to refine or dismiss concepts.
7. Risk reduction: Design thinkers may reduce the risks involved with deploying untested
solutions by testing ideas in a controlled and iterative way, resulting in better results and
greater success rates.
8. Learning and adaptation: Experimentation's main purpose is to learn as much as
possible about the issue, the consumers, and viable solutions. As the project continues,

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 this continual learning process allows designers to change their approach and make
better-informed judgments.
Overall, experimentation is a core pillar of design thinking that encourages teams to accept
uncertainty, welcome failure as a learning opportunity, and eventually arrive at unique, user-
centered solutions.

Lesson 6: Steps by Step Process of Experimentation

The processes in the design thinking experimentation phase may vary based on the design
thinking framework or methodology employed. However, the following is a rough summary of
the phases often engaged in the experimental phase:
1. Define the Scope: During this first phase, you must outline the issue or opportunity you
are addressing. It is critical to have a clear emphasis on your experimental period. This
might include going through the insights gained during the empathize and define stages

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 of design thinking. Set specific goals and objectives for the experimentation phase, as
well as a list of critical questions you want to address via testing and iteration.
2. Generate Hypotheses: Hypotheses are informed estimates or speculations regarding
possible solutions to the current situation. You construct these hypotheses based on your
knowledge of the user's requirements, pain areas, and issue context. They act as jumping-
off points for your experiments and drive the design of your prototypes.
3. Design Prototypes: Prototyping is an essential component of experimenting. It entails
making physical representations of your thoughts or solutions. Depending on the
intricacy of your idea and the level of testing, prototypes might vary from low-fidelity,
quick-and-dirty versions to more sophisticated, high-fidelity models. The idea is to
design something that end users can test and engage with.
4. Conduct User Testing: During the testing phase, it is critical to include end users and
stakeholders in order to obtain feedback and insights. Conduct user testing sessions in
which participants engage with your prototypes. To gather qualitative and quantitative
data, you may use a variety of approaches such as interviews, questionnaires, usability
testing, observations, or focus groups. This direct user input allows you to determine how
effectively your prototypes satisfy the requirements and expectations of your users.
5. Analyze Feedback: Analyze the comments and data received during user testing. Look
for trends, repeating themes, and particular user pain areas. The objective is to identify
the prototypes' strengths and faults and obtain important information to guide future
versions.
6. Iterate and Refine: You modify your prototypes based on the comments and insights
gained from user testing. Changes to the design, functionality, or features may be
necessary to address user complaints and improve the user experience. Prepare to go
through many iterations as you enhance your solutions in response to customer input.
7. Test Again: Conduct another round of user testing with the revised prototypes after
making the required adjustments. The iterative testing procedure helps you to confirm the
efficacy of your enhancements and obtain new data for future improvements.
8. Make Decisions: You will get a variety of data and insights throughout the
experimenting period. Use this data to make educated judgments about which options to
explore further and which to abandon. The objective is to arrive at a well-validated and
promising solution.
9. Implement and Launch: It's time to go on with implementation after you've properly
tested and improved your solution. Prepare to introduce your product, service, or solution
to your target audience. Ensure that the learnings from the experiments are successfully
incorporated into the final solution.
10. Evaluate and Learn: Continue to collect feedback and statistics from real-world use
even after installation. Keep track of how users engage with your product and discover

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 areas for improvement. Adopt a culture of continuous learning and apply what you've
learned from this phase to future iterations or new initiatives.
Remember that the experimental phase is a continual cycle of learning and refining, not a one-
time event. Design thinking promotes a fluid and adaptable strategy in which you iterate, test,
and enhance your ideas in response to user demands and feedback. The more you learn from
your tests, the more prepared you will be to develop effective, user-centered solutions.