Designing Environmental Solutions
Assignment: Prototype Iteration & Capture
Building your first prototype was only the start of an iterative process in which you’ll continue to refine and test your ideas. In this assignment, you’ll build a second (higher-fidelity) prototype, test it with users, and summarize it in a visual one-page report.
Assignment: Prototype Iteration & Capture
Building your first prototype was only the start of an iterative process in which you’ll continue to refine and test your ideas. In this assignment, you’ll build a second (higher-fidelity) prototype, test it with some representative users, and summarize it in a visual one-page report.
- With your team, discuss the first prototype you built in class, and decide what you’ll build next.
- What did your prototype do well, and what could be better? Are there specific pieces of feedback you received in class that you want to act on first?
Note: Your next prototype could be a variant or refinement of the first prototype, or you might prototype an entirely different idea. It’s up to you, based on the feedback you’ve gotten so far!
- What are the biggest questions you want to answer next? What could you build to answer them?
- If your team is unsure about what you want to prototype next because you got feedback that makes you question your idea, try holding a short brainstorming session. Remember to define a “How Might We” question, to help you focus on the issue you’ve identified.
- Build a second prototype that addresses one of these questions.
- Get feedback from 3 potential users. If it’s impossible to get in touch with actual users for your product, get feedback from people that are as close to your final users as possible.
- Capture your process. Create one or two slides that capture what you built. Include sketches and photos from your process. Make sure it includes:
- Your prototype’s name: give your prototype a catchy, fun, or memorable name.
- The need: a short background on the need that you identified, including the point-of-view statement and/or insights that you defined in the first lesson.
- The “How might we…” that you’re addressing.
- The Big Idea: what’s special or unique about your idea? What did you do differently?
- Photos or videos of your prototype, with notes to help others understand key highlights.
- The process: What did you do to test this, and what did you learn from feedback?
- What’s next for your team: what would you want to build and learn in your next prototype?