Product Design
College of Design
Twin Cities
Award Year
2024
University Award
McKnight Land-Grant Professorship
No Monument Location
Balancing act: How design teams prioritize early-stage physical prototyping feedback
Prototyping is a fundamental part of new product development, and prototypes are essential for rationalizing design decisions and communicating design intent when developing a product. Early-stage physical prototypes vary in form, function, materials, and construction, and these various models are tested with stakeholders to evolve the design. This research aims to understand how physical prototype fidelity influences feedback from various stakeholders, and then how design teams balance and prioritize that information to make design decisions.