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Design Thinking : Prototyping & Testing
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- 2. Contents • What isa prototyping? • What is testing? • Types of prototypes • Importance of this phase • Iterative nature of Design Thinking 2
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- 4. ““If a pictureis worth a thousand words, then a prototype is worth a thousand meetings.” – Saying at IDEO 4
- 5. What is prototyping? Prototypingis an integral part of Design Thinking and User Experience design in general because it allows us to test our ideas quickly and improve on them in an equally timely fashion. It is a set of tools and approaches for properly testing and exploring ideas before too many resources get used. Many of us may recall the art of prototyping from our early childhood where we created mock-ups of real- world objects with the simplest of materials such as paper, card, and modelling clay or just about anything else we could get our hands on. There is not much difference between these types of prototypes and the early rough prototypes we may develop at the earlier phases of testing out ideas. 5
- 6. A prototype isa simple experimental model of a proposed solution used to test or validate ideas, design assumptions and other aspects of its conceptualisation quickly and cheaply, so that the designer/s involved can make appropriate refinements or possible changes in direction. Prototypes can take many forms, and just about the only thing in common the various forms have is that they are all tangible forms of your ideas. They don’t have to be primitive versions of an end product, either—far from it. Simple sketches or storyboards used to illustrate a proposed experiential solution, rough paper prototypes of digital interfaces, and even role-playing to act out a service offering an idea are examples of prototypes. In fact, prototypes do not need to be full products: you can prototype a part of a solution (like a proposed grip handle of a wheelchair) to test that specific part of your solution. 6
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- 8. Testing Testing can beundertaken throughout the progress of a Design Thinking project, although it is most commonly undertaken concurrently with the Prototyping stage. Testing, in Design Thinking, involves generating user feedback as related to the prototypes you have developed, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of your users. When undertaken correctly, the Testing stage of the project can often feed into most stages of the Design Thinking process: it allows you to Empathise and gain a better understanding of your users; it may lead to insights that change the way you Define your problem statement; it may generate new ideas in the Ideation stage; and finally, it might lead to an iteration of your Prototype. 8
- 9. 5 Guidelines totesting 9 • 1.Let your users compare alternatives Create multiple prototypes, each with a change in variable, so that your users can compare prototypes and tell you which they prefer (and which they don’t). Users often find it easier to elucidate what they like and dislike about prototypes when they can compare, rather tha • 2.Show, don’t tell: let your users experience the prototype Avoid over-explaining how your prototype works, or how it is supposed to solve your user’s problems. Let the users’ experience in using the prototype speak for itself, and observe their reactions.
- 10. 10 • 3.Ask usersto talk through their experience When users are exploring and using the prototype, ask them to tell you what they’re thinking. This may take some getting used to for most users, so it may be a good idea to chat about an unrelated topic, and then prompt them by asking them questions such as, “What are you thinking right now as you are doing this?” • 4.Observe Observe how your users use — either “correctly” or “incorrectly” — your prototype, and try to resist the urge to correct them when they misinterpret how it’s supposed to be used. User mistakes are valuable learning opportunities. Remember that you are testing the prototype, not the user. • 5.Ask follow up questions Always follow up with questions, even if you think you know what the user means. Ask questions such as, “What do you mean when you say ___?”, “How did that make you feel?”, and most
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- 12. Low-fidelity vs. high-fidelity prototyping 12 LowFidelity: Lo-fi are the paper prototypes which are perfect at the early stages and are refined throughout the process. This type of prototype helps to make changes easily and quickly. It focuses more on the way of using the system instead of what it will looks like, which makes designers and developers more open to changes based on user feedback. With lo-fi it gets easier for the team and audience to understand the product well. But, as the complexity of the product increases it becomes difficult to maintain lo-fi prototypes further into the development cycle. This makes paper prototypes ineffective at keeping up with the required depth in design.
- 13. Low-fidelity vs. high-fidelity prototyping 13 High-fidelityare highly mistaken for the final product as they are the closest prototypes to what the actual finished product would be. Hi-fi prototypes are best to give a near realistic experience of the product with actual functionalities. Although it can be really costly and time consuming. It is ideal for discussing the complex parts of a product. But presenting the hi-fi prototype at the beginning may even confuse the viewers and would not be able to give them the basic knowledge and thus, they lose themselves in the complexity of the product.
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- 15. Importance of thisphase 15
- 16. Why is thisphase important? ▷ Better understanding of the design intent: Prototyping not only presents a strong visualisation of the design to understand the look and feel of the final product but it also helps the team to comprehend better why they are designing, what they are designing and for whom they are designing. ▷ Early Feedback : One of the most important aspect of product building process is to gather feedback. With prototyping you can collect reviews at every stage of developing the product—whether adding new features or redesigning parts of the product. Test what is working for the audience and what is not. Define goals with your team members, the management teams, external stakeholders, SMEs etc. and come to the best collective decision. ▷ Early changes save time and cost : Changes towards the end would mean not just radical restructuring but also more speculation and rework. With a preliminary model ready it is always possible to make the desired changes early, because by that point no investment or effort has gone into creating the full product.Thus, early changes help you achieve your goals faster. 16
- 17. ▷ Validation beforedevelopment : Prototyping allows having multiple discussions between iterations before getting into final development. This iterative process makes it easier for you to have surety in what you are building is actually what is needed. ▷ User research and user testing : Users are supreme. So identifying your prospective user set and collecting their ideas to serve them better is of utmost importance. Prototyping helps you achieve that. In fact, the ultimate intent of creating a prototype is user testing which tells you how usable and valuable your product is to the end user. You can gain inputs and insights about how real users would actually use the product and what you can improve to address their pain points. 17
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- 19. Design Thinking being iterative DesignThinking is an iterative process. In the larger context, we understand then explore then materialize our solution. Every step of the way is iterative. What we learn in one step of the process may cause us to go back and refine what we learned in a previous step. Especially when we prototype our ideas and see people interacting with it. We may discover that we may need to go back to the beginning and learn more about our target audience. Design Thinking is a cycle. Once we have implemented our solution – a product or service or other experience – we still get feedback from our customers, learn and improve the user experience or make new experiences. 19
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