Perceptions of prototypes: Pilot study comparing students and professionals

Carlye Lauff, Daria Kotys-Schwartz, Mark E. Rentschler

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Just as design is a fundamental part of engineering work, prototyping is an essential part of the design process. For many engineering design courses, students must develop a final prototype as part of the course requirements. And in industry, engineers build multiple prototypes when creating a product for market. Although prototyping is core to design education, there is a lack of research on understanding the perceptions and usage of prototypes from both students and professionals. Without understanding students' perceptions of prototypes, we cannot adequately train them. Likewise, without knowing how professionals use prototypes, we cannot translate these practices back to design education. This paper reports on the pilot study comparing the perceptions of prototypes between mechanical engineering students and professional engineers. The findings indicate that the interpretation of the term "prototype" varies between students and professionals. Specifically, these mechanical engineering students have a more narrow perception and identify prototypes as only having a few key elements, namely for building and testing functionality and feasibility of physical elements in a product. Comparatively, professionals have a broad perception of prototypes. They identify a wider range of attributes, including prototypes as a communication tool, an aid in making decisions, and a way to learn about unknowns throughout the design process. Many instructors in design education are cognizant of the importance of prototyping. However, we believe that students require explicit instruction about key concepts. It is not enough to just tell students to "prototype." As design educators, we must be aware of the various roles of prototypes, and teach these concepts to students. We provide some immediate recommendations for practice, including a list of ten principles of prototypes to create similar mental models between students.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the ASME 2017 IDETC/CIE – Design Education Conference
Subtitle of host publicationETC2017-68117
Place of PublicationCleveland, OH
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISBN (Electronic)9780791858158
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 6 2017
Externally publishedYes
EventASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/CIE 2017 - Cleveland, United States
Duration: Aug 6 2017Aug 9 2017

Publication series

NameProceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference
Volume3

Other

OtherASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/CIE 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityCleveland
Period8/6/178/9/17

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. We would like to sincerely thank all the students and professionals who have participated in the surveys and interviews.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 ASME.

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