The big idea: A prototype exists to answer a question before the product is committed to.
It can be physical or virtual (digital) — and which one you need depends entirely on what the question is.
Six real design questions, with a tick against whichever form can actually answer each.
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Why designers prototype at all
To test an idea
Does the concept work? A prototype turns an opinion into an observation — and it does so while the answer is still cheap.
To gather feedback
Users cannot react to a description. Put something in their hands and they will tell you things no interview would have reached.
To communicate
A prototype settles arguments inside a team, and convinces clients and manufacturers in a way drawings do not.
To find problems early
Every fault found on a prototype is a fault not found in production, where it costs a tooling change rather than an afternoon.
In product development: Prototyping is not one step in the process — it runs through it. Early prototypes decide what to make; late ones decide whether it can be made.
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Only physical
- Weight, balance and fatigue over time
- Texture, grip, temperature
- The sound and feel of a catch
- Anything the body judges
Only virtual
- Comparing forty variants
- Forces inside a part
- Anything needing a change to be free
- Testing before any material exists
Both, in sequence
- Structural failure — predict, then prove
- Assembly fit — simulate, then build
- Reach and clearance — model, then check
- Simulate to narrow, build to confirm
The trap: Answering "virtual is cheaper, so use virtual". A simulation tells you a handle weighs 180 grams. It cannot tell you whether that is tiring after ten minutes — and that was the question.
How this is tested — explaining the purpose of prototyping and choosing a form for a question. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — multiple choice
- Identify whether a stated question needs a physical or virtual prototype.
- Pick the purpose a described prototype serves.
Paper 2 — analysing a product
- Explain the purpose of prototyping in developing a named product.
- Explain why a designer would use both forms on one product.
The trap: Listing what each form is, rather than what each can answer. A question always states a purpose — match the form to the purpose.
A company is developing a lightweight folding bicycle helmet. Explain why it would use both virtual and physical prototypes.
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