Prototyping: Definitions

The Prototyping Across Disciplines Journal was inspired by an edited collection published in 2020, where the authors demonstrated the varied and multi-disciplinary use of prototyping. Across a dozen disciplines, from examples generated in research projects, classrooms, and studios, what emerged was a collection of how-to guides with three common features: (1) an equal importance placed on both success and failure; (2) pushing beyond functionality and aesthetics; and (3) using prototyping to imagine better futures. 

"Prototypes are intentionally incomplete versions of a design, features of which have been chosen for their capacity to provide information, experience, and communication. They are design’s guesses about the future. Designers make prototypes because they help us to ask questions about possible futures before we actually get there. Those questions might be as relatively straightforward as asking whether an expensive cell phone will sell better if it is lighter or heavier, or to what extent it matters how curved its corners will be. The questions could also be extremely complex, such as asking what we might expect to happen to the transportation infrastructure if no one needs to commute to work, or how the passenger experience may need to change if the majority of cars drive themselves." from "Prototyping across the Disciplines: Designing Better Futures", 2020, Eds. Roberts-Smith, Ruecker, & Radzikowska