Prototyping Interaction

Prototyping means making your ideas tangible. With prototypes you can communicate, test and iterate on your design. In this course you’ll learn the different methods of prototyping by sketching, building and testing.

Prototyping is a skill every designer should master, since it's the most effective, fast and often cheapest way to make your ideas tangible and communicate them. In this course you'll learn to think by using your hands to make your design a better experience for your end users by sketching, experimenting, making and testing.

In this six week course, you will be working on a prototype for a concept you’ll develop in the first weeks involving a mobile device. You will be exploring different types of prototyping, from paper prototypes to a digital prototype and eventually even a physical prototype.

In a world where we have to deal with new technologies on a daily basis, the prototyping process will help you understand the user and the way he or she interacts with these new and existing technologies. Understanding and executing this process will make your design stronger and more valuable to the end user.

What will I learn?

By the end of the course you know how to incorporate prototyping interaction in your design process. This will not only make your design process more effective, it will also help you to get new insights about the user and the way he or she interacts with your product or service.

What do I need to know?

Prior knowledge is not required, but some practical experience in UX design, interaction design and design principles is recommended. Be aware of the fact that you can earn two types of certificates. Chapter 1 to 4 will earn you a certificate covering prototyping for user experience for mobile devices. The second version (chapter 1 to 6) includes physical prototyping. For this you need to purchase a physical prototyping tool (e.g. a Makey Makey, an Arduino or a Touchboard) prior to, or at the start of week 4 of the course.

Chapter 1: Mapping the context and communicating your concept with a storyboard.

In the first chapter you'll be thinking of a solution that contains a smartphone or tablet.

Chapter 2: Generating and designing ideas for an interface with a paper prototype.

In chapter 2 you will be iterating on your concept using the feedback from your peers. You'll be sketching a paper prototype to explore what role the mobile device you chose has in the user journey.

Chapter 3: Testing your idea on your user with a paper prototype.

Chapter 3 is all about testing. Using the feedback on your three concepts of last week, you will choose one concept and test it on several end users.

Chapter 4: Validating your design with a digital prototype.

Now that you've been brainstorming, sketching and testing, it's time to make your concept tangible. You will be making a digital prototype using a digital prototyping tool and test it on an end user.

Chapter 5: Remapping the interaction in your design and communicate it using a physical prototype.

Review your design from last week and extend in to the physical world. You’ll be working on a prototype of a smart object (other than a smartphone) and test in on an end user.

Chapter 6: Experimenting with your design and test it using your physical prototype.

In the final chapter, you will use your feedback from you users and peers to iterate on your design using a physical prototyping tool such as an Arduino or Makey Makey.