The psychological experience of prototyping

While scholars have studied what design practices accomplish, few have considered how people feel when enacting these practices. An eighteen-month ethnographic study of a high-tech firm examined the psychological experience of engaging in the practice of low-fidelity prototyping. The study finds that the production and rapid visualization of multiple ideas through low-fidelity prototyping allows practitioners to reframe failure as an opportunity for learning, supports a sense of forward progress, and strengthens beliefs about creative ability. Results suggest how design work practices can be designed to help employees manage in uncertain conditions.

► We examine the psychological experience of design low-fidelity prototyping. ► The practice helps workers to reframe failure as an opportunity for learning. ► The practice supports a sense of forward progress. ► The practice strengthens beliefs about creative ability. ► Work practices can be used to help employees manage in uncertain conditions.