Why Prototype.
When we make things; formal or not we go through a process. This process involves a series of steps and planning. Then if we’re lucky we reach a point where we’ve created original vision. Or in most cases, we take what we have learned and the mess thats left and try again. Even when we are not aware of it we go through this process. For example when I’m hungry and want something to eat–I start to plan. I begin to think, what do I want to eat and may start to visualize what my meal may look like. Then I’ll start to eliminate options according to whats in my fridge.
An idea is formed and I begin to cook.
Durning the process of cooking I’ll taste and make adjustments. In a way the act of tasting is similar to testing. The taste lets us know if we’re on the right track or not. We test our assumptions to see if what we have made works. If not; we start over with a new plan. Cooking is a process of tasting and failing. In design we do the same thing. We take an idea, make it, try it and see if it works. We go through this process everyday. It’s the process that creates progress and the progress may is not known until we try it. Our failures are the “prototypes” from the process of testing. It’s all about the process and how we have arrived to our conclusions.
This is what I think the process looks like in quick and dirty linear model.
First we have some kind of idea, then we start to do some research and begin to create something. After this we take the most important step and create a prototype. This is where we get the most information. The information may not always be something we can document, but we get to start to answer the “what will happen when” question. The big unknown question we have had to assume until this point.
If we create something it should work and the process of making a prototype does just that. Often we have done so much work to get to this point we start to assume that it will work. Our research provides us reasons to proceed in a direction we assume to be true. This makes it easy to forget our initial solid ideas and get caught up in the act of performing the steps we know usually work. At least conceptually each step should be considered a prototype. The idea that anything we do in the process of design is true is lame, until it’s tested.
In many ways, the lack of resources make us think that we can’t make an effective prototype. We may get caught up in thinking, since “I can’t physically manifest my idea, so why try”. This also deters us from ideas that require more sophistication in the fabrication of a product. In many cases it’s outsiders with little resources that change design. Prototypes fill this gap and let us see how our designs will work. An effective prototype can be made with analog means even if it’s for digital purposes. The process of building a prototype makes you think further about what goes into it. This alone without the testing is powerful, but the testing furthers our understanding of what our designs need. Our ideas shouldn’t be limited to what exist or our resources. Making a prototype even–in an elementary way informs us of the needs we may have not considered.
The process of design involves many things. In most cases it requires a reiteration of our preliminary ideas. Every designer wants there ideas to work and in order to do this our ideas need to be durable. They need to work for whom ever they are created for. Our ideas are usually based on some kind of preconceived notion or experiences. They can often be made from a previous design that didn’t work. Even though there is validity from our learnings of the past, it doesn’t mean that our new ideas will work. In design we create test and recreate and this is why. A good design fulfills a need without being noticed. It integrates seamlessly into a system or architecture and serves a purpose. The sooner we find this out the closer we are to a product. Building a prototype allows us to have an interaction with our designs similar to the user. I imagine time and experience gives us a leg up in the design process, but you still gotta prototype! We’re not designing for only our experience and needs. Our past experiences should only make us faster to getting to that first prototype. In another way it should get us to failure faster. All designers should have the desire to fail as many times as the constraints of the project will allow them. You gotta think that we can never make the perfect product, but we should at least be willing. Good enough is usually not very good. Especially, when you go into it with that thought. In an ideal world I would keep designing the same thing forever and tasting till it was right. It should also be considered that our taste buds are also changing during the design process. I remember there was a time I didn’t like the taste of tomatoes. Now I look forward to the summer when I can have that first ripened tomato of the season.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say…that all of our final designs are just prototypes.
