Makers

As Innovators
21st Century Skills Innovation Library

Prototyping

Cherry Lake Publishing • Ann Arbor, Michigan by Eric Cook

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cook, Eric,
1971– Prototyping / by Eric Cook.
pages cm. — (21st century skills innovation library) (Makers as innovators)
Audience: Grades 4 to 6.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-63188-869-4 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 978-1-63188-893-9 (pdf) —
ISBN 978-1-63188-881-6 (pbk.) —ISBN 978-1-63188-905-9 (e-book)
1. Prototypes, Engineering—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
TS171.8.C66 2015
620’.0042—dc23 2014029096

Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for
21st Century Skills. Please visit www.p21.org for more information.

Printed in the United States of America

Corporate Graphics Inc.
January 2015
21st Century Skills Innovation Library

Contents
Chapter 1 What Is Prototyping? 4

Chapter 2 Why Prototype? 9

Chapter 3 The Process of Prototyping 15

Chapter 4 Evaluating and Revising 22

Glossary 30
Find Out More 31
Index 32
About the Author 32
 MAKERS as Innovators

Chapter 1

What Is Prototyping?

W
hat if your parents said, “Do your home-
work, but make sure you don’t finish it!”
Imagine if your teacher told you, “Don’t
spend too much time on your assignment, because
you’ll just wind up changing it later.” These might
seem like crazy things to say. However, there are
times when they are exactly what you should do!
Learning to build quick, unfinished drafts of your
ideas is an important part of becoming a more
effective maker. We even give this process a
special name—prototyping.
Prototyping means making a rough draft of
an idea so you can test it out. An artist might draw
sketches in pencil before taking the time to make a
big painting. Similarly, makers create prototypes to
evaluate their designs, show ideas to other people,
and think through problems before it is too late to
make changes. Like an artist’s sketches, prototypes
are quick, sloppy, and easy to throw away if they don’t
turn out right.

4
 Prototyping

Even simple materials such as colored paper

and sticky notes can be used to create useful
prototypes.

Prototypes can be created with any kind of tools

and materials you have at hand, from simple paper or
sticky notes to specialized computer software. In this
book, you’ll learn about some common techniques
for prototyping. You’ll also find out what makes these
methods useful. With these tools in your kit, you’ll be
a more effective designer and maker—whether you’re
trying to create a Web site, a 3D model, a robot butler,
or anything else.
Let’s get started by meeting two makers, named
Shona and Leo. They will each be working on their

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MAKERS as Innovators

own projects. They’ll provide examples of the value of

prototyping. They will also show different parts of the
prototyping process.

Shona’s Big Idea

After watching a demo of a 3D printer at her local
makerspace, Shona started thinking about how neat
it would be to make custom jewelry for the kids in her
school. She remembered that two of her classmates,
Susan and Miles, had bought necklaces with each
other’s names on them to show their friendship. But
Shona thought the necklaces would be even better if
each one had both friends’ names on it.
This idea of friendship necklaces was exciting
to Shona. With a plan in mind, she started drawing
sketches to show what the necklaces might look like.
She hoped to show the sketches to the other kids in
her class and see what they thought about her idea.

Leo’s Big Idea

Leo loved pizza. He ordered online from his local
favorite, Perry’s Pizza Palace, as often as he could. But
while Perry’s made delicious pizza, there was one
thing Leo didn’t like about ordering—Perry’s old,

6
 Prototyping

clunky Web site. One day, Leo complained about the

site to his older sister Sylvie. “It’s hard to see which
toppings you’ve picked,” he said. “I can never get
more than three toppings at a time, and the whole site
looks like it was made before I was born.”
Sylvie rolled her eyes. “If it bugs you so much, why
don’t you design something better?” she asked.
“Maybe I will,” Leo replied. Soon, visions of
pepperoni began to fill his head . . .

Leo’s difficulties ordering pizza are inspiring him to

make something new.

7
 MAKERS as Innovators

What Prototypes Are and Aren’t

Prototypes are:
• Cheap
• Disposable
• A step in a larger process of making

This means prototypes are created quickly and thrown away—on purpose!—as part of generating
and testing your ideas.

Prototypes aren’t:
• Finished projects
• Something that has to be done on a computer
• Only used to design one kind of thing. Designers use prototypes to build computer programs,
Web sites, and games. They are also used to make things like furniture, electronics, toys, and
much more.

8
 Prototyping

Chapter 2

Why Prototype?

O
ne of the first questions you might have is, why
bother? That is, why take the time to make a
prototype (let alone several of them) when you
could jump right into making the real thing? Good
question! There are two big reasons why prototyping
works better than treating your first design as your
final design.
The first reason
is that prototyp-
ing allows you to
improve your ideas.
As you work on a
prototype, you will
repeat the design
process several
times. Each time,
you will come up
with more ideas to Prototyping has helped inventors such as
improve your proj- Thomas Edison to create some of history’s
ect. In professional most important devices, such as the light bulb.

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MAKERS as Innovators

terms, this is called iterative design. Nobody gets a

project right on the first try. Trying something over and
over is a key part of generating great results. When he
was creating the electric lightbulb, inventor Thomas
Edison tested out more than 1,600 different filaments
(the part of the bulb that lights up) before settling
on the right one! You don’t need to come up with that
many versions of your design, but you’ll learn surpris-
ing things when you avoid settling on your first idea.
If you’re coming up with a lot of ideas, you
shouldn’t get too attached to any of them right off the
bat. You also shouldn’t invest too much time in any
single one of them at first. This is why prototypes
should be cheap and disposable. You shouldn’t be
afraid to throw a design away if it isn’t doing the job.
This just means you can move on to different ideas
while there is still time to change them.
The second big reason prototyping is a good idea
is because it allows you to communicate your ideas to
other people. The idea in your head may make sense
to you, but it is just imaginary until you build a proto-
type. Despite the image of the inventor alone in his lab
often seen in movies, real making is done with and for

10
 Prototyping

Makerspaces are filled with supplies and tools

that can help you with your projects.

others. You may have collaborators, such as an

artist friend who works on the graphics and images
for your project. You may be building your invention

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 MAKERS as Innovators

at a makerspace, where you can get help with special

tools like a 3D printer or a laser cutter. By showing
your collaborator a specific prototype, rather than
describing a general concept, you’re making sure that
you are both viewing the problem in the same way.
That way, the two of you won’t try to accomplish differ-
ent things at the same time.
In a way, prototypes also help you communicate
with yourself. By making your ideas concrete, you

Design Thinking

Iterative prototyping is often used as part of user-centered design, also called design thinking. This
approach to design encourages makers to think about who will use the things they are making,
what they are trying to accomplish, and where their inventions will be used. This might seems
like common sense. For a long time, however, designers usually assumed either that they knew
exactly what people needed or that the users of their designs needed and wanted the same things
the inventors did. As it turns out, this is often not the case!
Iterative prototyping helps you test with real users to make sure that what you’re building
actually suits their needs. User-centered design also encourages makers to create personas
(imaginary people), scenarios (imaginary settings), and storyboards (drawings showing how a
product will be used) to help them focus on users.

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 Prototyping

can remember details, keep better track of different

options for your design, and do more effective com-
parisons between different ideas. Makers often use
notebooks, sketch pads, and idea journals. These are
other ways of capturing your prototypes so you can
look back at them later!

Shona’s Project
Shona showed her sketches of customized friend-
ship necklaces to the kids at her lunch table.
They really liked the idea. Their comments about
the project gave Shona some new ideas that she
hadn’t originally considered. The idea she liked
best was to have each half of the friendship
necklace be a separate piece. That way, kids could
easily snap together different necklaces with
several different friends.
Before using time and materials to start making
necklaces on a 3D printer, Shona decided to proto-
type her idea using string, LEGO pieces, and name
stickers. That way, the kids at lunch could actually
try snapping the pieces together and trading
necklace halves.

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MAKERS as Innovators

Leo’s Project
Leo decided to prototype his new pizza ordering
system on paper. He learned a little about making
Web sites at the computer camp he attended the
previous summer, but drawing his ideas on paper was
quicker than actually building a site. It also let him try
out ideas that were beyond his level of Web design
knowledge. Fortunately, Sylvie had learned about
more advanced Web design in her computer classes
at school. She agreed to help make Leo’s final design
actually work!
Leo’s idea for a new ordering system would allow
users to drag pictures of the toppings they wanted
onto an image of a pizza. Leo was excited about how
fun and quick this would be. The system could show
different pizza sizes, amounts of toppings, and more.
To prototype this idea, Leo drew a sketch of what the
Web site might look like. He also made pictures of
toppings using sticky notes so they could easily be
moved around. When he tested the idea on his friends,
he planned to have them talk out loud about what they
are doing with the system. By telling him what they
were thinking—and what was frustrating and con-
fusing along the way—these testers would help him
improve his design.

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 Prototyping

Chapter 3

The Process of
Prototyping

B
y now you should understand the reasons why
prototyping is so helpful. So how do you get
started? How does prototyping actually work?
At first look, the pro-
cess of prototyping
seems straightfor-
ward. You start by
creating simplified
versions of your
design. Then you use
those creations to
test and think about
your design deci-
sions. Don’t try to do
everything at once in If you are designing a computer program, you
an early prototype. might start by sketching prototypes of what you
want the finished product to look like on screen.
Instead, think about

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 MAKERS as Innovators

which aspect of your invention you want to evaluate

first. Focus your attention there for the moment.
Regardless of what they are trying to make, many
designers rely on paper prototyping to develop
their ideas before they start doing anything on the
computer. In fact, a recent survey of professional

Once you’ve sketched out a paper prototype, a 3D computer

model might be the next step. Even complex designs such as
space shuttles are modeled in 3D before they are built.

16
 Prototyping

Levels of Prototypes

Not all prototyping is done at the same level of detail. Here are some common levels of
complexity you might hear designers talk about when they are discussing prototypes:

• Sketches:
These are very rough drawings that are used to generate new ideas or explore a
new approach.
• Low-fidelity:
This is a stage of detail above initial sketching but still not concerned with specific
visual details such as colors or fonts. Lo-fi prototypes are particularly useful for testing
because they keep people focused on the big picture of your design instead of the little
details.
• Wireframes:
This is a medium level of complexity. It shows the spacing and location of different
elements in the design.
• High-fidelity:
This is the last stage of prototyping, when you’re trying to make your design look
realistic. It is useful for getting feedback on the little details that were avoided in the
earlier stages.

The lines between these levels are fuzzy. One maker’s low-fi prototype may be another
maker’s wireframe. The important thing to understand is that you’ll make more versions at
the early levels, where there is less detail. Less detail means less time and less commitment.
These early stages should be the ones that are the cheapest and most disposable.

17
MAKERS as Innovators

designers found that paper was their number one tool

for prototyping. Paper is easy to find and simple to
use. It is also a surprisingly flexible prototyping tool.
You can draw, tape, overlap, and stick different pieces
together to mock up most aspects of Web sites, mobile
apps, and more. Try looking up “paper prototyping”
on YouTube. You may be surprised by the number of
clever uses that people have come up with for a sim-
ple piece of paper.
As useful as paper prototyping is, you will
probably need to create your wireframes and high-
fidelity prototypes on a computer. There are many
programs and tools that can help you prototype dif-
ferent aspects of your idea, from the way it looks to
the way people will use it. Some of these programs
might already be on your computer. For example, you
might have Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint,
which can be used to create simple Web page pro-
totypes. Other programs specially designed for
prototyping (such as Axure) are less likely to be on
your computer already. However, most software com-
panies often provide less expensive or even free
versions of their programs for students. See page 31

18
 Prototyping

in this book for links to information about these pro-

grams and more.
Don’t get bogged down worrying about whether
you’re using the absolute “best” tool. There is no sin-
gle right answer. The process of prototyping is very
flexible depending on your skills and the resources
available to you. What matters most is that you pick a
program that will do the things you want it to do.

Shona’s Project
Shona’s tests with her low-fidelity string-and-Lego
necklaces were useful. She found out that people
thought they were either too small or too clunky. This
was discouraging at first, but it led Shona to think
about a different approach for her next round of
prototyping: Instead of necklaces, what about some
other kind of jewelry?
She hit on the idea of friendship bracelets, which
solved several issues. First, it seemed like clunky
shapes might be less of a concern with a bracelet.
Second, her test users in the lunchroom liked the idea
of being able to trade and collect pieces with more
than just one person at a time. Shona realized that a

19
MAKERS as Innovators

large number of pieces would work better on a brace-

let than a necklace.
Shona’s shift in focus brought up some new ques-
tions, though. For instance, should the name pieces
be charms that hang off the bracelet? Or should the
names be printed on part of the bracelet itself? Shona
started making another set of prototypes to try out
these different options.

Leo’s Project
When Leo first showed his sister Sylvie his sketches
and drawings, he was a little surprised by the feed-
back she gave him. “These pepperoni look kind of
weird,” she said. “Maybe you should make them a dif-
ferent color of red than the tomato slices.”
At first, Leo wondered why Sylvie was worried
about something as simple as the color of pepperoni
right now. Then he realized that he probably had
put too much detail into the prototype he was show-
ing her, at least for this stage of the process. He had
been excited about the idea, so it had been fun to
spend a lot of time drawing all the ingredients. But it
also meant that Sylvie was paying more attention to

20
 Prototyping

his drawings than to the overall ideas about how the

ordering system would work. With that in mind, Leo
went back and drew a more simple set of black-and-
white sketches for his design. They weren’t as pretty,
but he suspected they would help get the feedback he
wanted right now.

It is often a good idea to only include the basics in

your first prototypes. Details such as color can be
added in later versions.

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 MAKERS as Innovators

Chapter 4

Evaluating and
Revising

S
o you’ve made some prototypes for your design.
But what do you do with them? As we’ve seen
from Shona and Leo, you can use the prototypes to
test your ideas and make changes. As mentioned earlier,
prototyping is part of a larger process of design. This
part of the process often goes something like this: proto-
type, evaluate, revise, evaluate, revise, evaluate, revise.

Even professional designers, like NASA scientists and engineers,

must perform careful tests on their prototypes to make sure they
will work properly in space. Here, they test a reflective material
that protects spacecraft from the heat of the sun.

22
 Prototyping

You can test many different things with your

prototypes. So you should make sure that you know
what you’re trying to find out before you get started.
Otherwise, the information you get from tests might
not address your questions. Three main areas that
you may want to evaluate with your prototypes are
functionality, appeal, and appropriateness. Let’s talk
about each of these areas.
Evaluating functionality means asking, “How
well does this design solve the problem?” and “How
effective is it?” While this seems straightforward,
there are different ways that design changes can be
effective. For instance, did your improvements make
the product faster than before? Is it less likely to
cause mistakes? Is it less confusing?
While these questions are related, they aren’t
the same. Sometimes, improving one aspect of an
invention actually makes another aspect worse!
For example, there is often a trade-off to be made
between speed and accuracy. When you do something
very quickly, it is harder to do it correctly. Balancing
the improvements in different kinds of functionality is
a key job for a designer. When evaluating functionality,

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 MAKERS as Innovators

you need to decide what is most important and what

kind of trade-offs you are willing to make.
A good way to evaluate different aspects of func-
tionality is to set up a series of realistic tasks for your
prototype. Then ask test users to work through those
tasks. As they work, you might want to take measure-
ments and record information about the prototype’s
functionality. For example, you might use a stopwatch
to record how long it is taking testers to complete
a task. You might also ask the testers to talk about

Talking to testers as they work with your

prototype can help you see flaws you didn’t notice
at first.

24
 Prototyping

what they are doing and thinking while they use the
prototype. This will help you see your design from a
different point of view.
The appeal of your prototype can be just as impor-
tant as the effectiveness. Regardless of how well a
device functions, people won’t use it if they don’t like
it. The challenge here is that people can’t always tell
you what they do or don’t like about a design. It may
feel good to hear someone say, “I like it. It is nice!”
However, this feedback does not help you figure out
what to keep or change in the next revised prototype.
To gather information about which parts of a
prototype people do or do not like, designers
sometimes use survey questions. These questions
allow designers to be very specific about what they
want to know. Asking testers to talk out loud while
they are testing a prototype and making note of when
they are happy or upset can also be very informative.
Finally, a design needs to be appropriate. That
means it needs to fit the people who are likely to use
it as well as the times and places when it will be used.
A phone application that reads texts from your friends
in a loud, silly voice may be both functional and

25
MAKERS as Innovators

appealing, but if the intended setting for use is during

class, it is not a very appropriate design solution!
Regardless of what you are evaluating, don’t be
afraid to ask what’s wrong with your design. This is
not a test that you are being graded on. In fact, find-
ing out what isn’t working right with your design and
what people don’t like about it are some of the most
useful pieces of information you can get!

Shona’s Project
After getting some more opinions, Shona decided
that the bracelet should be made out of name pieces,
rather than using charms. Her next design challenge
was figuring out how to make this work. For the
following round of prototyping, Shona began working
with different kinds of latching connectors.
Eventually, she came up with something that
seemed good-looking and easy to use. “Am I done?”
she wondered. “I should probably do a round of hi-fi
prototyping to make sure, before I start putting up
posters all over the school advertising the bracelets.”
Using a 3D printer, she made a sample bracelet
and wore it for a few days. This turned out to be a

26
 Prototyping

Tools such as a 3D printer can help you

make high-fidelity prototypes once you
have worked out the details of your design.

good idea. The bracelet was comfortable, and Shona

got a lot of positive comments and questions when
she wore it at school. But the hi-fi physical prototype
also showed that the latches were not strong enough
when made out of the 3D printer’s plastic. They kept
breaking off. This important detail needed to be fixed
before Shona could call the project done.

27
MAKERS as Innovators

Leo’s Project
Once Leo revised his paper Web site prototype, he
began to test it on more of his friends. These tests
were very helpful for Leo. They emphasized the
potential appeal of his design. As his friends moved
different combinations of ingredients onto and off of
the paper prototype, they laughed, made jokes with
each other, and said things like, “This is so much fun!”
At the same time, the tests also pointed out
several areas of possible confusion. For instance, if
someone put pepperoni on just half of the pizza, did
that mean they only wanted it on half or that they
were just being sloppy as they dragged the ingre-
dients over? What was the best way to show double
orders of ingredients? A single layer of mushrooms
didn’t really look that different from a double layer
in the paper version. And if someone wanted to
order a pizza with nine different toppings, how
could the designer be sure that all of the toppings
were still visible? By raising additional questions
and problems to be solved, the tests helped Leo
think about how he needed to improve the design in
the next version.

28
 Prototyping

Visiting a makerspace or meeting with

fellow makers can help you think of new
ideas for inventions.

Wrapping Up
As you follow the prototyping process with your own
designs, you will find that you’re able to make better,
more effective, and more appealing creations. You’ll
improve your skills as a maker, an inventor, and a
designer.
What will you make next? With the right ideas
and careful use of prototypes, almost anything will be
possible!

29
 MAKERS as Innovators

Glossary
fonts (FAHNTS) styles of type

functionality (fuhngk-shuh-NA-luh-tee) a measurement of

how useful or practical something is

iterative design (IT-ur-uh-tiv di-ZINE) the process of creat-

ing several versions of a project and improving it each time

maker (MAY-kur) someone who uses his or her creativity to

make something

makerspace (MAY-kur-spays) a place containing tools and

other equipment where makers can share ideas and work on
projects

prototyping (PROH-tuh-tipe-ing) creating the first version of

an invention that tests an idea to see if it will work

survey (SUR-vay) a study of the opinions or experiences of a

group of people, based on their responses to questions

30
Find Out More
Books
Fontichiaro, Kristin. Design Thinking. Ann Arbor,
Michigan: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2015.

O’Neill, Terence, and Josh Williams. 3D Printing. Ann Arbor,

Michigan: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2014.

Web Sites

Smashing Magazine
www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/29/free-printable-
sketching-wireframing-and-note-taking-pdf-templates/
Check out this collection of helpful resources for creating many
different types of paper prototypes.

Proto.io
http://proto.io/
Try out a free version of this useful prototyping software.

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 MAKERS as Innovators

Index
appeal, 25, 28 low-fidelity prototypes, 13, 17, 19
appropriateness, 25–26
materials, 5, 13
collaborators, 11, 12
communication, 10–13 paper prototyping, 14, 16, 18, 28
computer programs, 18–19
sketches, 4, 6, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18,
feedback, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28 20–21
functionality, 23–24, 25 survey questions, 25

high-fidelity prototypes, 17, 18, testing, 4, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17,
26–27 19–20, 22, 23, 24–25, 28
3D printers, 12, 26–27
iterative design, 10, 12
wireframes, 17, 18

About the Author

A native of Michigan, Eric Cook is an academic, teacher,

technologist, and musician. After spending more than a decade
as a touring rock drummer, electronic music producer, and audio
engineer, Cook earned an MSI in Human-Computer Interaction and
a PhD in Information from the University of Michigan. A former
lecturer and director of Undergraduate Programmes at University
College Dublin’s School of Information and Library Studies, Cook
now teaches about interaction design and information in social
systems at the University of Michigan’s School of Information.

32