DT4: Preparation for Week 4

Author:Javed Khan
Learning Line:Digital Transformation
Course:DT4: Data-driven Design
Week:4
Competencies:Knows how to prototype alternatives for an AI & Data Science product.
BoKS:4K4, Knows how to prototype alternatives for an AI & Data Science product.
Learning Goals:Understand the importance of prototyping alternatives and know how to rapidly prototype alternatives for an AI & Data Science product.

Introduction

After having conceptualized one or more designs based on users’ data you want to prototype alternatives to try out different ways the user interface and user interaction (UI) could look like. One of the most effective and efficient methods to do that is low-fi prototyping. One low-fi prototyping is paper prototyping.

By the end of this workshop you will have:
– at least two different versions of the user interface of your product as paper prototypes.

In Design Council’s “Double Diamond” model of the design process (Fig.1) the step of coming up with several prototypes, would be the “Develop” part of the process. That is because by developing different UIs you would diverging to try out potential solutions quickly before deciding which one to actually create (known as “Deliver” in this model).

Figure 1: Design Council’s “Double Diamond” model of the design process.

“A prototype is a simple experimental model of a proposed solution used to test or validate ideas, design assumptions and other aspects of its conceptualisation quickly and cheaply, so that the designer/s involved can make appropriate refinements or possible changes in direction.“

Here are two videos by U.C. San Diego professor Scott Klemmer on prototyping:

Video 1: The power of prototyping.
Video 2: Storyboards, Paper Prototypes, and Mockups.

Exercise 1: Make at least two alternative prototypes of your conceived product

To prepare for this exercise you need to have prepared and bring in class papers, pencils, scissors, glue, post-its and whatever else you think is going to help you to rapidly prototype ideas about how your conceived product looks like.

For more information on prototyping:
– Dow, S. P., Heddleston, K., & Klemmer, S. R. (2009, October). The efficacy of prototyping under time constraints. In Proceedings of the seventh ACM conference on Creativity and cognition (pp. 165-174).
– Dow, S. P., Glassco, A., Kass, J., Schwarz, M., Schwartz, D. L., & Klemmer, S. R. (2010). Parallel prototyping leads to better design results, more divergence, and increased self-efficacy. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 17(4), 1-24.
– Dow, S., Fortuna, J., Schwartz, D., Altringer, B., Schwartz, D., & Klemmer, S. (2011, May). Prototyping dynamics: sharing multiple designs improves exploration, group rapport, and results. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2807-2816).
– Tohidi, M., Buxton, W., Baecker, R., & Sellen, A. (2006, April). Getting the right design and the design right. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems (pp. 1243-1252).