Houde, S., & Hill, C. (1997) What do prototypes prototype. Handbook of Human-computer interaction, (2) 367-381.
Reflection prompt: Given the model described in this reading, which prototyping approach (role, look & feel, implementation or integration) seems most applicable to your current design situation, and why? Optional Readings: Klemmer Coursera Lecture - Storyboards, Paper Prototypes, and Mockups Lim, Y. K., Stolterman, E., & Tenenberg, J. (2008). The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as
Amanda Johnson
11/7/2016 08:28:42 pm
Houde and Hill’s chapter, What do Prototypes Prototype?, provided a lot of rich examples and details of how to represent different states in the design process and explore design options. I have heard the word prototype a lot since I started school, but I was confused on what it actually looks like in practice. The chapter did a great job at concretely describing what a prototype is and what it could look like under different circumstances.
Stephanie
11/7/2016 08:33:59 pm
The reading by Houde and Hill categorize prototypes into three categories: role, look and feel, and implementation. Prototypes that explore the role of the product look into questions about the functional use in a user’s life. Prototypes focused on the look and feel look into questions around the sensory experiences of users. Implementation based prototypes refer to how well the artifact performs the function its intended to perform. Additionally, Houde and Hill emphasize that the audience type also affects prototype designs.
Miki Nobumori
11/7/2016 09:54:55 pm
In the excerpt ‘What do Prototypes Prototype?’, Houde and Hill propose a change in the way designers think about prototypes, by shifting the focus on three design aspects of the artifact: role, look and feel, and implementation. The authors introduce a triangular model of the three focuses that can be used to divide a design problem before defining the form of the prototype of the artifact. What I find particularly interesting is the three split approach and its benefits in shifting the focus on one design aspect at a time, as well as using it as a visualization tool to communicate the purpose of the prototype to other members outside of the design team.
Eunsol byun
11/7/2016 11:04:44 pm
The reading was very interesting in that it divided the prototypes into three different goals: role, look and feel, and implementation. Role model is to create a prototype to figure out about the features that affect the user’s life. Look and feel model deals with sensory experience of the user with the design, and implementation model tests whether the design can be successfully built. While a lot of terms that are used to describe various prototypes are mostly related to their fidelity and medium that are used to create the prototypes such as paper prototype, it was very interesting to see 'a brick’ as a prototype. It signified that how an artifact is used by a designer is the most important in prototypes.
Pei Lin
11/7/2016 11:34:59 pm
In the following, I will first clarify the intended final product we are going to make; and then look into the purpose and audience of prototype for this specific product; finally come up with a brief prototype approach.
Bria Best
11/8/2016 12:06:25 am
Houde and Hill argues that the discussion around prototypes needs to shift from medium and tools and examine what a prototype can contribute to the design process. “The fundamental questions of interactive systems” relate to role, look and feel, and implementation. Role examines how the artifact functions and the context the artefact needs to function within. Look and feel tests the sensory experience of the artefact. Implementation investigates how the artefact works with each technique and component of the system.
Nick Lewis
11/8/2016 06:04:03 am
The starting point is interesting. Focusing on the purpose of a prototype to guide the design of said prototype… its role in lives, how it looks and feels, and implementation. For the time being, I’m not sure why this is called a “what it prototype,” but the purpose is for better decisions.
Natalya Buchwald
11/8/2016 08:38:36 am
In "What do Prototypes Prototype?", Houde and Hill propose a modification to the typical prototype mental model. Specifically, they argue that designers should focus on three main parts: role, look and feel, and implementation. Throughout the article, the authors argue that this split approach benefits designers because it augments focus on particular design choices. The current terminology causes misunderstandings within the capabilities and significance of the tool, particularly to non-designers. The split approach aims to approach a design problem with explicit deliverables.
Jordan Marks
11/8/2016 09:05:15 am
Before the critique, I think I would have been able to select one of the vertices of the triangle, but the conversations that we had a result of those discussions made me think that the integration prototyping approach is most applicable to our current design. Based on our feedback, we have important decisions to make regarding all three facets – the role, the look and feel, and the implementation to make our design effective, and these interactions do not seem independent.
Kevin DeLand
11/8/2016 10:24:49 am
Prototypes provide a low cost way to try out your idea without too much commitment. For example, I was at a party and this guy was telling me how he was a DJ and visual artist and he wanted to incorporate some aspect of colored lights into his show, for a “synesthetic experience”. I told him to just buy a $24 LED strip with remote and put it under his table and control it with the remote, instead of trying to build a complex system which automatically integrates the lights with which song he is playing. In this situation, the prototype takes a HIGH role approach (i.e. it achieves his goal of letting the audience experience different colored lights for each song), a LOW feel approach (for the artist, as he will have to click the remote with each new song), and a MEDIUM implementation approach (as the lights are part of the implementation, but there might be something more complex to build).
Yilin Ying
11/19/2016 05:41:48 pm
Prototype is a wonderful way to visualize designers’ ideas, keep everyone of the team in the same page and communicate with target users. The format of prototype should be closely aligned to the goal why people want to make that prototype. I used to regard prototype as the visual part (without coding) of the final product and it should always be visually engaged and full of details. I was afraid of doing prototype because I don’t have a visual background. Now I feel that the idea of “prototyping” perfectly represents the philosophy of “iteration” in interaction design. Clear logic can also be helpful in making prototype. We don’t need to make everything perfect for each step, we can go step by step from role, visualization and implementation. For example, if designers just want to test whether the big picture of the idea works for the users, they can make a lo-fi paper prototype emphasizing roles because they can edit it rapidly for its visual elements. As the project get progress, people can then add details and visual elements into the hi-fi version in illustrator. Keep prototyping can help people reflect on their work in the progress and they don’t need to jump to a rush final design, which may not that effective without testing. Comments are closed.
|
Course BlogPost reading reflections, document, share and comment on design activities and works-in-progress. Archives
November 2016
Categories
All
|
IDeATe Program | ideate.cmu.edu
|
IDeATe Gallery* | gallery.ideate.cmu.edu
|