BUILD

Prototyping, Testing, and Iterating, and Iterating

From ENT3607 Innovation by Design

Methods > Design Thinking > Plan > Empathize > Ideate > Build

In this module, the designers take on a "mad scientist" mindset as they work to quickly bring their ideas to life through low-fidelity prototypes and rapid, frequent iteration using user feedback to learn what works and what doesn't and altering the prototype until they reach success.

Videos

Can Design Thinking solve every problem? Dave Evans from Stanford D-school talks about different “thinking” methodologies and prototyping.

What is prototyping, and why is it useful? Google Design Researcher, Todd Hausman explains how Google uses prototyping to develop revolutionary new products.

Is Design Thinking some sort of magic? This video answers the question and explains how rapid prototyping is used to magically grow innovative solutions.

Note: Design Thinking activities can be conducted live and in person with sticky notes and whiteboard, or virtually online utilizing collaborative tools such as Zoom and Miro with virtual sticky notes and whiteboard.

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping is the key to many innovation frameworks including Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile Development. The concept is simple and logical: rather than sinking a ton of money and time into a single prototype that customers may end up hating, create quick, low-fidelity, crude prototypes that demonstrate the basic principles being tested (sometimes called a minimal viable product), gather feedback, and iterate adding features and adjustments based on frequent user feedback. This ensures that when the development process is finished, customers will love your product.

Through Design Thinking you may create a solution that is software/app, or a physical invention, a service or a system (a way of doing things). Depending on the form your product takes, you will utilize one or more of the following types of prototypes.

1. Storyboarding

A storyboard is a simple and powerful tool for modeling a persona's experience and selling a solution. Like a comic strip, a storyboard lays out an experience frame-by-frame depicting key moments in the persona's experience capturing details in both pictures and text. Storyboards are ideal for illustrating the implementation of any kind of solution, but are especially useful for solutions that are services such as improving the drive-up dining experience. Storyboarding is a tool that can be useful in any stage of the Design Thinking process. Check out the accompanying illustration and video, the try out this exercise to create your own storyboard.

Independently, each group member should…

Select an aspect of the persona's experience that you wish to model in order to illustrate your problem, and the manner in which your solution addresses it (see example image). Keep in mind all stakeholders and moments that are critical to communicating the envisioned future state.
Use around 8 sticky notes, or frames drawn on paper, to illustrate the different scenes of the storyboard.
Before drawing any pictures, decide what action will take place in each box and note it below the box (this will allow you to adjust the action without having to erase drawings).
Use stick figures or star people (see image) to illustrate the stakeholder action in key moments of the experience.
Use dialogue bubbles capture the interactions of the different people and objects your protagonist encounters. Be sure to capture emotions in the features.
Iterate until you are happy with the overall story.
Take a photo of your storyboard to share with your group.

Gather with your group…

Have each group member share their storyboard with the group, talking through each frame.
After all have shared, discuss which features of each of the storyboards you liked best.
Build one final group storyboard incorporating the best features from all storyboards.

2. Paper Prototyping

Paper prototyping can be used to quickly create physical models, or visual models of digital products. It is the first step in turning an app idea into an actual app. It's a great way to get user feedback on an idea before investing a lot of time and money on developing the product or app. Also, users are more likely to give candid feedback if they know a lot of investment hasn't already been made in the idea. Give it a try!

Watch the video to gain an understanding of how a paper prototype works.
Use this template to draw your prototypes - either print it or use it as a guide to draw your screens on blank paper.
Work as a group to design your apps home screen in a roughly 2.5" x 4.25" rectangular screen - three screens to a page (as in the template). Try to keep your app simple with as few options as possible to keep the number of click-paths to a minimum. You should consider downsizing and narrowing the scope of your app if it has more than one or two primary functions. It doesn't have to solve your design challenge completely. It could just focus on one element of the challenge. Apps that try to do it all are too complicated for users and end up failing. Consider the functionality of your favorite apps and the narrowness of their scope.
Use the home screen size as a template for all other screen drawings.
Continue working as a group to design the flow of screens for one sequence of user interactions (as in the video).
Assign other sequences of user interactions to team members to complete all possible interactions more quickly.
When finished have all group members take a photo of all of the screen prototypes.
Use a phone overlay (as in the video) to demo your app for classmates to critique or in a Flash Feedback session as described at the bottom of this page.

3. Digital Prototyping

Begin this stage only after testing your Paper Prototype with users and tweaking it to accommodate their feedback.

Digital Prototyping takes your paper prototype one step closer to being an actual app. In this stage, you design the user interface (UI) for your app, but do not yet develop any of the program code that makes the app functional. Many powerful tools are available for Digital Prototyping. The article at https://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/top-10-prototyping-tools-2016-21619216 provides a look at some of the most popular.

You can also use simple tools such as Microsoft Powerpoint, Apple Keynote, Google Slides to simulate an online app interface. Web tools like WIX can also be powerful in demonstrating the functionality of products.

Consider building 3D digital prototypes with minecraft, tinkercad, or other 3d design software.

There are several components involved in creating the user interface for your App (listed below). There are a couple strategies you can use when dividing up the work between your team members. You can assign the components to team members, doubling-up on some but insuring that everyone needs to have an equal amount of work. Or work through the components sequentially as a group.

Group Coordination: This process needs one person that serves as a central coordinator to make sure everyone is on track to complete on time and headed in the agreed upon direction. Decide as a group who you would like to appoint as your coordinator and then make a pact that group members will support the coordinator throughout the process no matter what.
Brand and Graphics Design: Develop the philosophy and graphics elements of your brand - your brand color palette, your logo, and collecting images for your app. Watch https://youtu.be/jB57Pc1W6Ys to get started.
App UX Designer: Develop a digital prototype of the user interface. We'll use PorotoIO. Download it at https://proto.io/ and utilize the video tutorials provided on the site. Develop the main pages of your app. Enough to demonstrate the main functionality of your all. You might provide some mock-up data screens to show what the results look like.
Website Design: Develop a marketing website for your product in Wix starting with a Landing Page theme. The site should use the same branding elements as the App and should be developed with the goal of selling the App by describing its amazing features. A single Splash or Landing page with multiple sections should suffice.
Research: Testing the ideas developed in the Digital Prototyping stage with users to guide the direction of development, AND research the market to discover similar products that might help guide design.

4. 3D Modeling

There are many forms of modeling using a variety of materials: paper, cardboard, wire, clay, legos, whatever it takes to quickly create a low-resolution model/prototype of your idea to get feedback on your design idea. If you’ve never used crafting materials to build a prototype you should give it a try! Getting your ideas out in physical form is a great way to get your idea across and collect valuable feedback.

3D models allow you to more easily tell the story in a way that people can visualize.

When designing actual physical products, designers often start with crafting materials to collect feedback on a rough design. Then, as the design is refined, they might move to developing a more detailed 3D design software. Tinkercad is easy-to-use online software that allows users to design physical objects. Once designed, the object can be exported for printing on a 3D Printer.

Note that 3D design and printing tutorials are available on the Innovation Hub website at innovation.fsu.edu/3d-print-now. You can also print your design at the Innovation Hub using the online submission form.

5. Acting it Out

Acting out scenes from your Design Challenge's Journey Map can literally put you in the shoes of your stakeholders and develop insights that you might not otherwise observe. Acting out is also very useful in the Prototyping Stage to determine if the solution you are developing "feels right" when applied to the problem. Acting out your solution with you team can save embarrassment prior to having users try it out.

Using sticky notes, brainstorm the different scenes you want to act out. Include details of what roles are involved and what situation should occur. Leave some flexibility to allow some productive improvisation.
Identify who on your team is assigned to each role.
Include props and prototypes that are important to the interactions.
Allow actors time for some practice before performing the scene for others - revising as needed.
Gather your audience and act out the scene.
Gather audience reactions and suggestions to benefit your Design Solution.

6. Testing

Prototyping and testing are cyclic events. Testing should occur at every stage of prototyping and guide design challenges in the next iteration.

One simple and quick method of testing is Flash Feedback. In Flash Feedback, groups perform demonstrations for each other.

Each group should send a couple reviewers to another group to hear their pitch, retaining two group members at the group's home base to pitch your solution.
Pitches should last 3 - 4 minutes and should be uninterrupted.
Feedback should last the same amount of time, again they should remain uninterrupted unless questions are asked.
Resist the temptation to defend your ideas, instead listen closely with one team member taking notes.
If time allows, reviewers can move on to another group to hear their pitch. The more feedback collected the better.
When finished, discuss the feedback you received with your entire group.

Other tools for testing include:

Future Journey Mapping: Create a Journey Map that illustrates how your Persona's journey has been vastly improved by implementing your solution.

Ultimately, you will need to share your solution with decision makers and stakeholders. Before you do, consider options to make available, how much your solution will cost, and what return on investment it will provide. Once these are established you can work with decision makers to frame the solution:

Convene key decision makers and stakeholders.
Explain the Design Challenge and Problem Statement, include the story from the persona's perspective, pain points and critical moments in the journey map. Include all of your research.
Explain how your Design Solution addresses the problem.
Facilitate a discussion on solution options, costs and benefits.

You have completed all the Design Thinking Modules!

Perhaps you’d like to check out Systems Thinking!