Very early thoughts about how and what type of learning occurs during the creation, use and evaluation of prototypes. Presented at LiU design talks at LiU University September 26th 2012.

1. Learning from prototypes
in service design
Johan Blomkvist
IDA-HCS-IxS
@Hellibop

2. Service prototyping

3. • Prototyping can be many different things
– Purposes
• Explore, evaluate, communicate
– Representations (prototypes)
• What is a representation of a service?
• Concept, process(es), system

4. What are they talking about?
• What do they mean by prototyping
• Types of prototyping
– Creating prototypes, using prototypes, evaluating
prototypes
• Learning occurs throughout – but is
qualitatively different

11. Conversation with situation
• A designer creating a prototype
• Closed-loop
– Paper
– Artefact
– System (service)

12. Conversation with situation
• A designer creating a prototype
• Sketching
• Building
• Preparing
Reflective conversation with materials
(Donald Schön)

13. Conversation with situation
• Service design
– Preparing
• Post-its
• Flowcharts
• Sketching
• Making props (2D, 3D, 4D)

14. Situational/contextual/embodied
• One or more stakeholders ”use” a prototype
• Rests on an external representation of a service

15. Situational/contextual/embodied
• Representation of service
• Whole services or segments?
– Service walkthroughs
• Different knowledge based on type of
representation
– Roleplay
– Desktop prototype
– Experience prototype (Buchenau & Fulton Suri,
2000)
– Props or no props?

16. Situational/contextual/embodied
• Iterative use and redesign approach
– no ”formal” evaluation
– based on general ”feeling” of using the prototype

17. Situational/contextual/embodied
• Use of the prototype
– Users/customers use a prototype for a time period
– Designers’ learning limited
• Not reading a scenario, not looking at a chair or a list
of specifications
• Embodied understanding of use, situated (in a
situation) and contextual (in a context)
• What you learn about a prototype depends on its’
representation (fidelity aso), and where and how you
use it!

18. Situational/contextual/embodied
• Use and evaluation
– Think aloud
– Probe
– Feedback provided during enactment of service

19. Recall-based learning
• Recall-based learning
– Based on a period of using the prototype
– Questionnaire or more informal evaluation
• Learning based on static representations
– Scenarios, storyboards, customer journeys aso…

20. Fin