SKILLECTRONICS - Prototyping

Introduction-

New and Innovative products have become need of the mankind and one of the first processes in development of products is prototyping. Prototyping is a foundational process for developing a new product through the physical representation of an idea. In the process of ideation and revised ideation prototypes play an important role. Prototyping is done in development of hardware as well as software products. Prototyping is an integral part of Design Thinking and User Experience design in general because it allows us to test our ideas quickly and improve on them in an equally timely fashion.

What is prototype-

A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea. The word prototype derives from the Greek prototypon, "primitive form"

Types Of Prototype-

According to me prototypes can mainly be divided into 4 categories-

Working Prototype
Visual Prototype
Functional Prototype
Paper Prototype

Let us understand all the categories one by one.

Working Prototype-

A working prototype represents all or nearly all of the functionality of the final product but the appearance and scale of a working prototype can be different form final product. These type of prototypes are developed to check the back end and working of any new product.

Visual Prototype-

A visual prototype represents the size and appearance, but not the functionality, of the intended design. A form study prototype is a preliminary type of visual prototype in which the geometric features of a design are emphasized, with less concern for color, texture, or other aspects of the final appearance. These type of prototypes can found in architectural projects where small models represent appearance and strength of the final structure at a small scale and in other branches of engineering also.

Functional Prototype-

A functional prototype captures both function and appearance of the intended design, though it may be created with different techniques and even different scale from final design. These types of prototype give us a basic idea about overall working and appearance of product. These types of prototype are also used as user experience prototype that represents enough of the appearance and function of the product that it can be used for user research.

Paper Prototype-

A paper prototype is a printed or hand-drawn representation of the user interface of a software product. Such prototypes are commonly used for early testing of a software design, and can be part of a software walk through to confirm design decisions before more costly levels of design effort are expended.