Definitions vary and may differ at different organizations, but the definitions below may be used as a starting point.
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Concept Model: a physical model made to demonstrate an idea. Concept models allow people from different functional areas to see the idea, stimulate thought and discussion, and drive acceptance or rejection.
Prototyping Attributes
Speed: turnaround time to convert a computer file into a physical prototype
Appearance: any visual attribute: color, texture, size, shape, etc.
Assembly/Fit Testing: making some or all of the parts of an assembly, putting them together, and seeing if they fit properly. At the gross level, this checks for design errors, such as placing two tabs at 2 in. spacing and the mating slots at 1 in. spacing. At the fine level, this is a matter of minor dimensional differences and tolerances. Obviously, any test involving tolerances needs to use the actual manufacturing process or one which has similar tolerances.
Prototyping Attributes
Form: the shape of the part: features and size
Fit: how the part mates with other parts
Functional Testing: seeing how a part or assembly will function when subjected to stresses representing what it will see in its actual application.
Prototyping Attributes
Chemical Resistance: resistance to chemicals including acids, bases, hydrocarbons, fuels, etc.
Mechanical Properties: strength of the part measured by tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength, impact strength, tear resistance, etc.
Electrical Properties: interaction of electrical fields and the part. This may include dielectric constant, dielectric strength, dissipation factor, surface and volume resistance, static decay, etc.
Thermal Properties: changes in mechanical properties that occur with changes in temperature. These may include thermal expansion coefficient, heat deflection temperature, vicat softening point, etc.
Optical Properties: ability to transmit light. May include refractive index, transmittance, and haze.
Life Testing: testing properties that may change with time and that are important for a product to remain functional throughout its expected life. Life testing often involves subjecting the product to extreme conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, voltage, UV, etc.) to estimate in a shorter period of time, how the product will react over its expected life.
Prototyping Attributes
Mechanical Properties (fatigue strength): ability to withstand large numbers of load cycles at various stress levels.
Aging Properties (UV, creep): ability to withstand exposure to ultraviolet light with an acceptable amount of degradation; ability to withstand extended applications of forces to the part with acceptable levels of permanent deflection.
Regulatory Testing: testing specified by a regulatory or standards organization or agency to assure parts are suitable for a particular use such as medical, food service or consumer application. Examples include Underwriters Laboratory (UL), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the U.S. Food and Drug Agency (FDA), the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the International Standard Organization (ISO) and the European Commission (EC).
Prototyping Attributes
Flammability Properties: the resistance of a resin or part to ignition in the presence of a flame.
EMI/RFI Properties: the ability of a resin, part or assembly to shield or block Electromagnetic Interference or Radio Frequency Interference.
Food Rating: approval of a resin or part to be used in applications where it will come in contact with food while it is being prepared, served or consumed.
Biocompatibility: the ability of the resin or part to be in contact with human or animal bodies, outside or inside the body, without causing undue adverse effects (e.g., irritations, blood interactions, toxicity, etc). Biocompatibility is important for surgical instruments and many medical devices.
Prototype models help design teams make more informed decisions by obtaining invaluable data from the performance of, and the reaction to, those prototypes. The more data that is gathered at this stage of the product development cycle, the better the chances of preventing potential product or manufacturing issues down the road. If a well thought out prototyping strategy is followed, there is a far greater chance that the product will be introduced to the market on time, be accepted, perform reliably, and be profitable.
What is the best way to get a prototype made? The answer depends on where you are in your process and what you are trying to accomplish. Early in the design process, when the ideas are flowing freely, concept models are helpful. As the design progresses, a prototype that has the size, finish, color, shape, strength, durability, and material characteristics of the intended final product becomes increasingly important. Therefore, using the right prototyping process is critical. In order to most effectively validate your design, pay close attention to these three key elements of your design: functionality, manufacturability, and viability.&#;
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If your prototype can faithfully represent the attributes of the end-product, it is by definition functional.&#;These requirements often include such things as material properties (e.g., flame resistance), dimensional accuracy for fit-up with mating parts, and cosmetic surface finishes for appearance.
If your prototype design can be repeatedly and economically produced in a manner that supports the requirements of the end product, it is by definition manufacturable.&#;These requirements include the ability to maintain the functionality of the design as described above, keep the piece-part cost below the required level, and support the production schedule. No matter how great a design is, it will go nowhere if it can&#;t be manufactured. Make sure your prototyping process takes this into consideration.
Finally, even if your prototype design is functional and manufacturable, it doesn&#;t mean anyone will want to use it.&#;Prototypes are the only true way to verify the viability of the design in this sense.&#;If your design can also pass the challenges associated with market trials (e.g., trade show displays, usability testing) and regulatory testing (e.g., FDA testing of medical devices), you&#;re well on your way to a successful product launch.
Rapid prototyping is an agile strategy used throughout the product development process. With this approach, 3-dimensional prototypes of a product or feature are created and tested to optimize characteristics like shape, size, and overall usability.
See Also: Rapid Experimentation
Rapid prototyping creates product simulations for testing and validation during the product development process, with multiple iterations generated during a short period based on user feedback and analysis.
Prototyping is a way to validate the hypothesis that a product will solve the problem it is intended to solve. Although not fully functional by any means, a prototype often &#;looks&#; real enough that potential users can interact with it and provide feedback.
If the feedback reveals that the prototype is pretty far off the mark, then the company saves weeks or months from building something that won&#;t work in the real world. At the same time, a positive reaction to a prototype indicates the product concepts are on the right track, and development should proceed.
The &#;rapid&#; part of this comes into play with the speed that the initial prototype can be produced, how quickly feedback can be gathered and synthesized, and how fast subsequent iterations can go through the same process. Teams must find a delicate balance between creating a prototype that looks real enough, so users are providing genuine reactions and feedback but without spending so much time on the prototype that the team is hesitant to throw away the work due to expended resources and opportunity costs of going back to square one.
To collect bona fide prototype feedback, users shouldn&#;t even realize they&#;re not interacting with the real product; once they know it&#;s &#;just a prototype,&#; they will switch into &#;proactive suggestion&#; mode instead of providing authentic reactions, which are the true test of a prototype&#;s viability. This means having a clickable, usable prototype with real data, images, etc., even if it is still somewhat limited.
These high-fidelity prototypes look and behave like the real thing, which requires a few things to make them viable. First, product teams must think through all the use cases and paths users may pursue while interacting with the prototype. Then, real software development and UX expertise must be tapped to create a realistic, high-fidelity prototype&#;these won&#;t just be whipped up in an afternoon while spitballing ideas.
However, there are times when building out a fully visualized prototype is premature or too expensive, which is where wire-framing comes in. Product managers can create wireframes themselves to illustrate workflow concepts and basic UX concepts.
These can be used for actual user testing and useful to inform product development regarding what must be in place for a &#;functional enough&#; working prototype. While ordinarily product teams are told to leave implementation details to the development and UX teams, a wireframe-based prototype ensures the test includes every parameter the product team requires and shaves some time off the total process.
For product teams willing to settle for prototypes somewhere in between wireframes and fully functional, creating clickable sites (or facade prototyping) can be done quickly using various design and UX tools. These obviously won&#;t have tons of real data powering them behind the scenes, but they can provide trustworthy user feedback on many elements of the solution.
Rapid prototyping may also include creating multiple prototypes for side-by-side testing (or simultaneous testing by different sets of users). This lets teams settle once and for all if Option A really is superior to Option B.
Rapid prototyping allows product managers to &#;fast forward&#; to getting real-world customer feedback without expending precious product development resources on unproven and untested concepts. Hypotheses are no longer hypothetical, and you can truly test use cases with real users.
Getting actual customers to try things out and observing what works and what doesn&#;t is invaluable for creating products that match user needs and shortening the time to market. By validating assumptions and uncovering &#;gotchas&#; much earlier in the process, product teams can move forward with confidence that the final product will find an audience&#; or go back to the drawing board if they don&#;t receive things well.
Because rapid prototyping is incredibly iterative with short turnaround times from one test to the next, product teams must be prepared to provide input to the developers and UX folks spinning out prototypes, quickly analyze usage and feedback, and then recommend what should change in the next round. This requires attentiveness, responsiveness, and collaboration since the development team effectively idles until the decision is made on whether to spin up another prototype or move forward with full product development.
Rapid prototyping has the added benefit of prioritizing the features and functionality that truly matter to users&#;if the prototype does not include it, do you need to build it at all? The urgency of the process creates a pruning dynamic that focuses on what matters most.
Rapid prototyping can be an invaluable time-saver and disaster-avoider for product teams. With dependable feedback from users interacting with prototypes, product managers have qualitative validation of their assumptions or clear indicators that adjustments are required. This all helps reduce the risk of the final product failing to meet expectations.
Additionally, the externalized thinking that comes from the rapid prototyping process breaks down communication barriers and fills in the gaps. This ensures the development organization delivers what the product team envisioned. This also creates more efficiency in the overall product development process and puts the best possible product before paying customers and prospects.