Prototyping 100 -- what you need to know about prototyping, and what to get out of it

2. Pretty slides?
• I don’t like slides with a lot of text. I prefer slide shows with lots of
pictures I can talk over
… but since you are going to be looking at this later, without the benefit
of me talking, I put a lot of words on it
• Slides will be available on Slideshare
• KANSO design briefs will not be available, as they are not free to
share.

3. Who am I?
• Went to NYU (Computer Engineering) and University System of
Maryland (BS Computer Science and Business)
• Serial Entrepreneur: Internet, Games, Interactive Entertainment,
Finance, Security
• Co-Founder of HARDWARE.co, community for Hardware Startups to
share knowledge
• VP Engineering KIWI.KI GmbH—lead engineering effort and product
design. Prototyped and productized all gen 1 hardware and services.

4. Kinds of prototypes
Prototypes explore different aspects of an intended design
• A Proof-of-Principle Prototype explores some functional, but not all,
aspects of the intended design.
• A Form Study Prototype explores the size and appearance, but not the
functionality, of the intended design.
• A User Experience Prototype captures enough aspects of the intended
design that it can support user research.
• A Visual Prototype captures the size and appearance, but not the
functionality, of the intended design.
• A Functional Prototype captures both function and appearance of the
intended design. It may be created in with a different method and scale
from final design.

5. Functional prototypes
• Show that you can solve the problem
• Are effective enough to determine how well the problem is solved
• Are not usually pretty
• Should be fairly inexpensive—used to unblock other steps of product
development process
• Off the shelf components used as much as possible
• Will be one-offs, but never make less than two
• Do not sell your prototypes!

6. Example: KIWI

10. <- Current production hardware
Prototype for next generation ->

11. Example: Berlin Boombox

14. Prototyping is Easier than EVER BEFORE
•Electronics: Arduino / Raspberry Pi / Sensors
from Cellphones
•Forms: 3d Printing, CNC
•Interactions: Smart Phones
•Infrastructure: Cloud

15. Design prototypes
• Show that your solution is accepted by the market
• Manifest your product vision
• Are usually very pretty, and may not be practical
• May be somewhat expensive
• May involve external design firms
• Will be 100% bespoke
• Never make less than two

16. Design Process
• Research
• Mood Board
• Ideation
• Refinement

17. Case Study: KIWI’s new Ki

18. Bonus: Production Pictures

19. Questions?