CHARACTERISING THE AFFORDANCES AND LIMITATIONS OF COMMON PROTOTYPING TECHNIQUES TO SUPPORT THE EARLY STAGES OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
DS 92: Proceedings of the DESIGN 2018 15th International Design Conference
Year: 2018
Editor: Marjanović D., Štorga M., Škec S., Bojčetić N., Pavković N.
Author: Mathias, David; Hicks, Ben; Snider, Chris; Ranscombe, Charlie
Series: DESIGN
Section: DESIGN METHODS
Page(s): 1257-1268
DOI number: https://doi.org/10.21278/idc.2018.0445
Abstract
The act of prototyping is more than the artefact produced – the process helps answer design questions. A knowledge of prototyping activities leads to better decisions in the design process. The aim of this paper is to characterise and compare prototyping techniques. A literature review explores current research into characterising prototypes, before highlighting the need for comparison. A study is reported that compares the design activity of sketching, CAD, cardboard and LEGO when used as prototypes in a group design task, showing differences in the levels of different design activities.
Keywords: prototyping, product development, early design phase, design practice