Dec. 09, 2024
Mechanical Parts & Fabrication Services
We are at the client&#;s office, going through the typical strategy presentation for a new product. As we share the human needs being met and the business opportunities, we see a few blank stares. It is clear that something is needed in order to hold the attention of the stakeholders in the room, and we have come prepared. Under a white cloth lies a prototype of this new product. We lift the cloth and silence fills the room&#; but not for long. After a quick walkthrough, a few seconds of awe and contained nervous laughs, a myriad of questions start pouring on. Success! Putting a prototype on the table served us to instantly align and excite everyone in the room!
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At propelland we design products, services, and experiences to help companies and startups transform and grow. We aim to help our clients meet their business objectives by adding value in people&#;s lives. We differentiate ourselves from an ocean of design firms by emphasizing our ability to &#;Bring Ideas to Life, increasing our clients ability to launch new products and services into the market successfully.
This is a first of series of blog posts that we hope will illuminate the value of prototyping and share knowledge and understanding on how to bring ideas to life. This post focuses on the top 5 reasons why prototypes can save your project. In the future we will go through other important topics like: the different types of prototyping, tools, processes, best practices, prototyping team profiles, and share specific use cases to help show real life examples.
But first let&#;s start with our definition of a prototype.
&#;Prototypes are an emulation of a desired experience &#; the first steps of making an idea tangible in order to find market fit. A prototype is not defined by its look, functionality, size, shape, or fidelity, it&#;s defined by its purpose.&#;
Our job as designers is to improve the lives of others. However, most of the time designers don&#;t fall under the demographics of the target user, therefore it&#;s essential to know how to empathize with potential users, to put ourselves in their shoes. This way we can identify their pain points and validate assumptions in order to create solutions that solve their unmet needs.
When validating ideas with users, it is important to note that more often than not how users &#;use a product&#; is opposite to how they &#;say they would use a product&#;, which is were the importance of having a prototype comes in. Observing how a user interacts with our product (the prototype) will give us more reliable insights than if we just ask them about hypothetical scenarios.
Remember to stay humble when testing and validating your solutions with users. Use the testing process as an opportunity to identify &#;unknowable&#; problems and develop new insights that will help identify if you are heading in the right direction. During the testing process we may develop new learnings that challenge the overall user experience, the value offering we are creating, and/or the business model behind the concept. In summary, prototypes are a great tool because you are able to demonstrate how effective your solution is to meeting user needs and what improvements can be made to your solution.
Technology ignites innovation, while design distributes it. When designing new products or services our building blocks are often new technologies that have never been used in a particular industry. Therefore it is important to create prototypes that prove the technological feasibility of an idea, helping to inform the rest of the team about the technical constraints of potential solutions.
Engineering in this case should just focus on proving feasibility, any other work would not be considered lean and therefore a waste of time and resources.
Prototyping assists in aligning team members around core ideas packaged into a single deliverable, helping the team establish focus and strengthen a core vision around a product or service.
Prototypes become symbols that guide our decision making for why we are creating a product or service, who it is we are designing for, and what the solution should look like at the end of the process.
A prototype is a very efficient tool for communicating ideas because it shows us a glimpse of what a product/service could become.
Effective communication is key for gathering momentum within an organization, in order to keep pushing a concept through the innovation pipeline. Having a good quality prototype that communicates the viability, feasibility and usability of a concept can be the deciding factor that secures funding for a project or product.
When demonstrating a prototype, having a compelling storytelling is a must. It is as important as the prototype itself. This is because, in the end, it is not about the prototype, but about how the prototype communicates a vision that convinces decision makers.
Innovation requires a lot of forward thinking but at the end of the day is a quantity game: the more ideas we test, the more successful products and services we will launch into the market. Therefore, we must make sure the innovation process is as lean as possible. We must move fast and cheap. The sooner we fail or succeed, the more innovation we can carry forward as a team.
Prototypes do not need to be like the final product. This fact grants flexibility to designers and engineers to be smart on the materials and fidelity we use to build prototypes. In the images above, you can see examples of two low fidelity prototypes that use cardboard tubing, PVC pipes, foam, and a cart we already owned to quickly test proportions at scale. Total first two prototypes cost: probably around $15. Would you imagine making these first prototypes directly out of plastic or metal? The cost and time would have skyrocketed simply to gather the same learnings.
There are many benefits to creating prototypes, we identified these 5 as being core benefits to our design process but understand there are many others we have not included.
We hope this was useful, next we will dive deeper into the different Types Of Prototypes to share how prototypes can help answer the right questions throughout different stages of the design process.
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Related links:Every business venture starts with a unique idea and a vision to provide the market and its consumers with a product they not only need but desire. However, ideas alone aren&#;t enough to impress investors, engage targeted audiences or take on human resources &#; key ingredients for the execution of any successful project. A good beginning is often the result of learning from trial and error and requires an immense amount of in-depth research and thorough knowledge of market conditions and consumer demand.
This is why prototyping is crucial for the success of any business project &#; it can give you the insight that you need and allows for the anticipation of risks and problems that can be met with swift solutions. Regardless of your industry, investing in prototypes can make the difference required for your idea to stand out and do well in the market.
My company works with brands and individuals to develop web platforms and apps, so prototyping is a process we&#;re very familiar with. If you are looking for more reasons to build an actual prototype before jumping on to production or development, here are five reasons why, as well as a few tips on how to get started.
Prototyping gives you a sense of clarity.
When you&#;re starting things from scratch, it can be easy to lose sight of your basic idea and stumble over ambitious visions of the future, which rarely ends well. As a startup, it is imperative for your team to have a streamlined vision of your project.
A prototype can act as a roadmap for everyone involved to bring your vision a step closer to reality. As a process, leverage the research required in prototyping to analyze your purpose, focus your efforts on delivering a better experience for your clients and craft a unique value proposition in the market.
It allows you to market through visual representation.
If you are trying to win an investor&#;s interest, having a working prototype makes it easier to deliver your idea and offer them a glimpse of what you&#;re trying to create. Prototypes can provide a firsthand experience of your product or service that will surely surpass any thoroughly crafted document.
People love talking about tangible things rather than theoretical ideas. Creating a prototype makes your idea tangible and provides a visual representation that gains more attention as it is experienced by the market. In this case, instead of you selling your idea, it is the idea that does all the work.
It is an easy way to get real feedback.
Successful ideas are built on reliable statistics and market research. More specifically, you need all the information you can get on your target audience&#;s attitudes, interests and engagements.
Acquire this data by recording consumer and market response during the prototyping process and use it for further developments. As a result, you can get a feel for what people are saying about your idea, what more they are looking for and what they would like to change. This information can provide an efficient blueprint for the evolution of your idea into something that specifically caters to your chosen market and ultimately elevates your market advantage.
Prototyping helps you better plan your project and scale cost.
Time and money are limited resources for most entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts. Certain factors such as budget, strategy and return on investment for implementing your project have to be taken into account. A prototype gives you a better idea of the level of work required in implementing your project and decent estimates of how much it is likely to cost.
Use the prototyping process as an opportunity to define the plan and allocate the right balance of required time and budget to transform your idea into a product that delivers profit and value. This allows you to save time and money with key insights on practical nuances.
It creates trust and increases brand confidence.
Business ideas and their success are predicated on the amount of trust people have in the idea&#;s capacity to achieve its goals. Without prototyping, a finished project may incite doubt in observers, due to the lack of information regarding the project and its ability to deliver what the idea initially promised.
Prototyping bridges that information gap prior to execution and allows your brand to build a personal relationship with investors and consumers alike. It makes it easier for them to gauge your project&#;s potential growth and builds your credibility.
Below are a few important takeaways to ensure that prototyping is done in the most efficient manner.
&#; Using the right tools is very important. Make sure you choose the one that serves your requirements the best. We've been using Adobe XD for UI/UX development and have found great success with it.
&#; Creating a cross-functional team is important to ensure that developers don't miss out on small details, including user experience and the usability of the prototype, which are essential.
&#; Regular in-house testing of the prototype is also important to ensure that there's always feedback available. This ensures that the prototyping is done efficiently.
From helping you define your concept, providing you the opportunity to resolve unforeseen issues, getting timely insightful feedback and allowing you to better manage your time and capital, prototyping is essential to a business&#;s success. It significantly helps straighten out the process of taking your idea a step closer to its actual form and increases its chances of becoming the next success story.
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