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The Efficacy of Prototyping Under Time Constraints

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Design Thinking

Part of the book series: Understanding Innovation ((UNDINNO))

Abstract

Iterative prototyping helps designers refine their ideas and discover previously unknown issues and opportunities. However, the time constraints of production schedules can discourage iteration in favor of realization. Is this tradeoff prudent? This paper investigates if – under tight time constraints – iterating multiple times provides more benefit than a single iteration. A between-subjects study manipulates participants’ ability to iterate on a design task. Participants in the iteration condition outperformed those in the non-iteration condition. Participants with prior experience with the task performed better. Notably, participants in the iteration condition without prior task experience performed as well as non-iterating participants with prior task experience.

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Acknowledgements

The Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program funded this research. We thank Björn Hartmann, Jeff Heer, Daniel Schwartz, Barbara Tversky, and Terry Winograd for helpful comments on early versions of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human-Computer Interaction Group, Stanford University, Gates Computer Science Building, 353 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Steven P. Dow & Scott R. Klemmer (Principal Investigator)

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  1. Steven P. Dow
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  2. Scott R. Klemmer
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Correspondence to Steven P. Dow .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hasso-Plattner-Institut GmbH, Prof.-Dr.-Helmert-Str. 2-3, Potsdam, 14482, Germany

    Christoph Meinel

  2. , Stanford Center for Design Research, Stanford University, Panama Mall 424, Stanford, 94305-2232, California, USA

    Larry Leifer

  3. Hasso-Plattner-Institute for Software Sy, Prof-Dr-Helmert-Str. 2-3, Potsdam, 14482, Germany

    Hasso Plattner

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Dow, S.P., Klemmer, S.R. (2011). The Efficacy of Prototyping Under Time Constraints. In: Meinel, C., Leifer, L., Plattner, H. (eds) Design Thinking. Understanding Innovation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13757-0_7

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