An analysis of early stage prototypes using implementation, look and feel, and role

Identifying the purpose of a prototype is central to making informed decisions about the kind of prototype to build. Houde and Hill (1997) propose a model for classifying prototypes according to their purpose and the design questions they answer. Since this model was created for user interaction design, it has never been applied to physical prototypes on a large scale or to a progression of prototypes through the product development cycle. Ten physical prototypes from an MIT mechanical engineering senior capstone design course are evaluated according to the Houde and Hill (1997) model. With only a few challenges, the model is found to be applicable to physical prototypes, providing insight into the nature of physical prototyping, the product development cycle, and MIT's senior design course. In the process, a notional relationship between the progression of the product development cycle and the number of design questions answered is proposed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Hernley, Lauren R. (Lauren Renee)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Maria C. Yang.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68841

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/68841