What is Prototyping?

Hello friends, I hope you all are having a great time. Today, the topic at hand is " Prototyping". You might have experienced the process of prototyping, in case you are someone related to the industrial field or a person related to software and stuff. Let me define it first, so that you may decide later either you have been a part of it, or not.

Definition of Prototyping

"Materialization of a raw intangible idea into physical configuration or a tangible form is called Prototyping."
I think all of us have done that in different ways!

Example of Prototyping

Let me explain this whole prototyping thing with an everyday example for your understanding.

• Let's suppose you are a product designer who is specialized in the niche of cooking utensils and tools.
• A client approaches you for designing a spatula, a large spoon of silicon used in cooking that scrapes the sides of your pot like crazy!
• He explains the basic specs and design he has in his mind and hands over the rest to you.
• What would you do now? You would open your laptop, start making your sketch in a 3D form in software like AutoCAD, SketchUp, or whatever you like.
• Afterward, you would show the design to your client and after his approval, this spatula would go for the 3D printing in the desired material.
• This process of converting a rough idea which goes through different stages, into a physical product is called prototyping.

Types of Prototypes

There are different types of prototyping depending on the need and area of use, we'll be discussing some of them in the next section. This section is intended to give a brief introduction only.
Miniature Prototype; creating a mini version of the thing you want to produce.

• Live Data Prototype; creating an almost similar prototype to check if the website or the application would be functional or not.
• Feasibility prototype; as the name suggests, it only intends to check the feasibility and reliability of your product or more precisely, your idea!
• Video Prototype; a short clip that shows the working of your product or your idea.
• High fidelity prototype; a prototype that is almost identical to your actual product.
• Low fidelity prototype; a prototype representing the idea behind the product but is not like the actual product.
• Rapid Prototyping; small prototypes are designed rapidly using 3D Printing.

Now you must be thinking, "What are the tools we use for prototyping?"

• If you are keen on the initial digital design of your product or your website or maybe your app, then there are countless available options in the market such as AutoCAD, Solid Works, Solid Edge, Grunt, SketchUp, Webflow, and Invision among many others.
• After the digital design of your product, a 3D printer is required for prototyping it in a 3D object, which is another story for another day, how 3D printing works!

The example of the spatula we discussed earlier in the article was about a physical product or you can say idea, what if you have to prototype an app or a website? Let us break it down into simple steps.

Prototyping Process for an App or Website

• Every scientific research starts with a problem or a question, when designing an app or website, you need to know the cause or purpose first.
• Let's assume, you have to design an app for fitness freaks, the first and foremost step would be the research, you would research the expectations for basic features and functionalities of the app, for this purpose you can use a low fidelity prototype to analyze the public expectations.

• The design and templates are made using the app for digital designs such as AutoCAD, SketchUp, origami, and a lot more available options.
• After the research through a low fidelity prototype, you would now design a high fidelity prototype i.e an app with one or two features for public interaction.
• A video prototype can also be made to give a demo of the functionalities of your app.
• As you have checked the functionality and working of your app a according to consumer feedback, it is ready to be released in the market in its full version.
• Now you know how the prototyping process is carried out for an app or a website design, imagine the difficulties you would face without it!

Applications of Prototyping

Now, you must be thinking, Where we use prototyping? or simply putting it, what are the applications of prototyping. Here are some of the shortlisted ones among the countless applications of prototyping;

• Manufacturing and agile tooling
• Assembly parts
• Medical Equipment
• Artificial limbs and bone implants
• Dental implants
• Apparel and clothing
• Research and development
• Product design
• Electronics

Web development and app development

These are some of the areas influenced by the prototyping process, you can read a detailed account of each one in our comprehensive article about prototyping.

Advantages of Prototyping

Whenever we discuss a topic it is almost impossible to discuss it without discussing its advantages, let's see a few of them,
Prototyping provides room for a lot of trial and error, you can test your idea without investing a huge sum of money, who wants to go bankrupt!

• Prototyping can attract investors and public attention, both of these are the success markers of the project.
• Time is money in this fast-paced world, prototyping saves your time, if your product or idea can't do well in the market, your prototype would help you recognize it in the initial stages of research and development.
• Feedback is one of the best bets of prototyping, you can make your design better by analyzing the results generated by the user interaction of your prototypes.
• What else you need when you can save your time, money, and reputation by a simple and cost-effective process!

Disadvantages of prototyping

• Feedback is the necessary evil in the prototyping process, a lot of consumer involvement sometimes makes it difficult to cater to the expectations of the general public.
• Constant feedback and approval system makes prototyping a slow process.
• The users sometimes confuse the prototype with an actual product which makes them negatively think of the product, this damages the brand reputation in general.
• Constant testing and redesigning the prototyping process a bit costly.
• Anyhow, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages in every case, you can implement the process by controling the above-mentioned parameters.

So friends that's all about the basics of prototyping, i hope you have learnt something new from the article. See you with the next one soon! Have a good day ahead!