This reading assignment was based on the article "What do Prototypes Prototype?" by Stephanie Houde and Charles Hill. I've selected key quotes to comment on that highlight important context within the article.
"This set of three prototypes from the same project shows how a design problem can be simultaneously approached from multiple points of view. Design questions of role, look and feel, and implementation were explored concurrently by the team with the three separate prototypes."
This quote speaks to the importance of using multiple prototypes to approach a design problem from various angles. Design is a complex process with challenges that cannot be solves with any one single solution. By having multiple prototypes, a design team can assess the role, look and feel, and implementation of a project at the same time. This results in the design team coming up with more well rounded and effective solutions. This approach also promotes creative and dynamic thinking, and ultimately reflects a deeper understanding of the design challenge.
"Integrated prototypes help designers to balance and resolve constraints arising in different design dimensions; to verify that the design is complete and coherent; and to find synergy in the design of the integration itself."
This quote highlights the crucial role integrated prototypes play in the design process. Bringing together multiple aspects of a design, including functionality, appearance, etc., allows designers to face multiple design challenges in order to ensure that the product is cohesive. This includes not only making sure all aspects of the design work well together, but as the quote mentions, it encourages designers to look for synergies within the design. This ideally results in the whole of the product becoming greater than the sum of its parts.
"One issue with prototypes like this one is that inexperienced audiences tend to believe them to be more functional than they are just by virtue of being shown on a computer screen. When this prototype was shown, the designers found they needed to take great care to explain that the design was not implemented."
This quote discusses an issue that comes up when testing prototypes: when people see a prototype on a screen, they often believe it is already implemented and assume that it is already functional. This can lead to misunderstandings and unrealistic expectations. This issue highlights a broader concept that designers have to be very intentional with how they communicate with audiences, and have to be sure to understand how the audience will perceive the test itself. Explaining that a prototype is still a work in progress is vital to ensure the audience has a clear understanding of what it is they're looking at. Providing context and managing expectations is an important step in the process in order to receive as accurate of feedback as possible.