1. Functionality and Use: How can the prototype demonstrate the intended functions of the product and its usefulness in real-world scenarios?
- Importance: This question is crucial because it validates whether the product serves its intended purpose and addresses the specific needs of its target users. A prototype that effectively demonstrates functionality and use can also highlight potential areas for improvement before finalizing the design.
- Type of Prototype: A Role Prototype is best suited for this question. It focuses on illustrating the product’s role in the user’s life, including its main functions and how it fits into real-world scenarios.
- Prediction: My guess is that this prototype will reveal both anticipated and unexpected ways users might interact with the product, leading to insights that refine its core functionalities to better match user needs.
2. Emotional Connection: Does the product design create an emotional connection or elicit a positive emotional response from its users?
- Importance: Creating an emotional connection is key to product success as it can significantly impact user satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Emotional engagement can differentiate a product in a crowded market.
- Type of Prototype: A Look and Feel Prototype is designed to answer this question. This prototype emphasizes the aesthetic, sensory, and interactive qualities that contribute to the overall experience and emotional response of the user.
- Prediction: I anticipate that the look and feel prototype will identify elements that strongly resonate with users, as well as areas where the design might fall short in evoking the desired emotional response, guiding further refinement to enhance emotional engagement.
3. Technical Feasibility: Can the envisioned features and functionalities be technically realized within the project’s constraints?
- Importance: This question assesses the practicality of the design from a technical standpoint, ensuring that the envisioned product can be developed within the constraints of time, budget, and available technology. Answering this early in the development process can prevent costly revisions later on.
- Type of Prototype: An Implementation Prototype is appropriate for exploring technical feasibility. This prototype delves into the technical underpinnings of the product, testing whether its features can be implemented as designed.
- Prediction: The implementation prototype is likely to uncover a mix of feasible and challenging aspects of the design. My guess is that some features will prove more complex than initially thought, requiring creative problem-solving or adjustment to the scope to ensure feasibility.
