PROTOTYPE: HOW TO CONSTRUCT MY PROPOSAL
Every Entrepreneur Needs to Start With a Prototype
USING PROTOTYPES FOR LEARNING
One of the essential early steps in the inventing process is creating a prototype--which, simply defined, is a three-dimensional version of your vision.
But what exactly should a prototype look like?
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First, it depends on your idea.
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Second, it depends on your budget and your goals. If possible, it's great to start with a handmade prototype, no matter how rudimentary it could be, if it works for your initial demonstration purposes.
PROTOTYPE
Definition: A replica of a product as it will be manufactured, which may include such details as color, graphics, packaging and instructions
TASK 1: Every team read the sheet “What is a prototype” to introduce the concept of a prototype, the different types, how they are used and how they are important to the design, development and improvement of products and services. Then, as a class you comment your findings.
It is important for you to understand that the format of the prototype must be adapted to the communication and validation needs of each project. The prototype is a tool, not an objective in itself.
TASK 2: The aim of this task is to construct an initial version of your prototype using the information from the previous module and the guide questions included on the prototype template.
The prototype can take many forms according to the type of product or service, the abilities of the team and the resources available. With this first version, the aim is for you to overcome your fear of the empty page and begin to turn your vision into something more tangible.
You have to be able, as a team, to go from a general concept to a specific vision.
Your team will be provided with various templates of the sheet “Pre-prototype” This template contains a number of questions to help you to design your prototype. The teams also have the template “Critical elements of the business model”, from the previous session, the information contained in which will have a bearing on the design of the prototype. The teams will begin the process of defining the prototype with all this material. The section called “Production process” will not be considered at the moment.
The format of the final prototype will be conditioned by the type of product or service envisaged in the proposal, the abilities of the team and the resources available. The minimum format will be based on using the sheet provided, but there are numerous options (3D simulation, multimedia content, scale model, mock-up, etc.).
The template will allow you, in the first instance, to identify everything you need to know to be able to describe what the prototype should be like. As such, it is working material (pre-prototype) and not the final version of the prototype. Each team will therefore be provided with various templates, so that they can experiment with different versions of the prototype.
TASK 3: The first version of the prototype will have brought up questions of a technical nature related both to construction and to the use of the product or service, its functions and how to implement them. At the same time, it is necessary to start giving form to the prototype.
It is therefore recommended to divide the team into two working groups:
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one of them focused on obtaining more information and
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the other on actually building the prototype.
The teams will have to research, albeit in a preliminary way, how the prototype could be implemented industrially. For this last reason, the “Pre-prototype” template has a section called “Production process” focusing on that aspect. These questions, together with all the questions arising from the design of the prototype, require fieldwork to be carried out between sessions. During fieldwork, you will be able to talk to different experts who can answer your questions (mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths, computer experts, electricians, engineers, lawyers, architects, biologists, etc.).
It is important that you use the template for the prototype, as it has been prepared as a mechanism for articulating the questions asked in the interviews with the experts. That way, communication is made easier, the prototype is improved and you become aware of the power of that tool.