Prototyping: A key skill for innovation and life-long learning

Novice designers' use of prototypes in engineering design

“…In contrast to design experts, who use prototypes early in a project to engage with stakeholders, novice designers primarily reported using prototypes with stakeholders later in the design process to share their progress and gather feedback. This echoes studies that have found that novice designers spend less time scoping a problem and do not seek the same depth and breadth of information prior to developing design solutions (Atman et al, 2007; Häggman et al, 2015; Mohedas, Daly, & Sienko, 2014b; Viswanathan, Atilola, Goodman, et al, 2014; Yang & Epstein, 2005). This lack of engagement with stakeholders early in the design process represents a missed opportunity and has the potential to negatively impact design outcomes.…”

“…They often did not use prototypes strategically in ways design experts do, resulting in the underrealization of many benefits prototyping can provide as well as the potentially limited retention of the benefits they did experience (Christie et al, 2012; Crismond & Adams, 2012; Hilton et al, 2015; Kelley, 2007; Kelley & Littman, 2006; Schrage, 1999; Viswanathan, Atilola, Goodman, et al, 2014; Webber et al, 2016). …”

“…Expert designers also make use of prototypes iteratively during this process of concept development, and use multiple and varied prototypes during all phases of product design (Crismond & Adams, 2012; Hilton, Linsey, & Goodman, 2015) to simplify complexity and achieve “small wins” at the component level (Gerber, 2009; Hilton et al, 2015). Working with prototypes at the component level and the ability to switch between component- and system-level thinking is an essential aspect of successful design practiced by experts (Gerber, 2009; Hilton et al, 2015; Viswanathan, Atilola, Goodman, & Linsey, 2014). A number of factors related to prototyping influence the design outcome, including the development of a structured approach for when and how to use prototypes, time spent on prototyping, and the complexity of the prototypes developed (Atman et al, 2007; B.…”

“…Studies have shown that the behaviors of novice designers often differ from those of experts in key areas such as problem scoping, depth and breath of information sought, iteration and time spent during individual phases, and general design strategy (Atman et al, 2007; Miller & Summers, 2012; Mohedas, Daly, et al, 2015; Mohedas, Daly, & Sienko, 2016; Ozkan & Dogan, 2013; Popovic, 2004; Viswanathan, Atilola, Goodman, et al, 2014; Yang & Epstein, 2005). In contrast to design experts, novice designers often consider prototypes to be models that are created towards the end of the design process to test and evaluate a chosen design, rather than dynamic tools that can take various forms to help refine and develop several ideas in parallel (Hamon & Green, 2014; Lande & Leifer, 2009; Yang, 2009; Zemke, 2012).…”

Student use of prototypes to engage stakeholders during design

“…This allows for iterations and design improvements without the large investment of time and money that Viswanathan 18 describes as "sunk cost." Many advocates suggest that prototypes should be created early and often and used iteratively throughout the product design process 10,19,20 . Schrage suggests that "'wasting' prototypes is essential… for detecting errors and discovering opportunities," "wasting" referring to the quick elimination of less promising approaches 5 .…”