1. Cultures of Prototyping By Michael Schrage presented by Roy Campbell

2. The Author, Michael Schrage Co-director of the MIT Media Lab's E-Markets Initiative. Senior adviser to MIT¹s Security Studies Program. Advises organizations on the economics of innovation through rapid experimentation, simulation and digital design.

3. Introduction by Terry Winograd Schrage describes the role and conduct of prototyping in industries such as autos and consumer electronics. In order to gather information, he interviewed design-firm managers.

4. Background of Paper Paper is partly based upon IDEO which is a firm built around a prototyping philosophy. IDEO is a design consultancy doing industrial design and engineering based in Palo Alto.

5. Prototyping Cycle Build prototype. Test prototype. Scrutinize prototype. Redesign prototype.

6. Claims Winograd claims that the culture fosters creativity and innovative design. Prototypes serve as “backtalk” to designers.

7. Aspects of Prototyping Cultures Specifications Media Styles Organizational structures. Tacit understanding and practices.

8. Prototypes and Specifications Prototypes reveal good or bad design. Specs & prototypes can concur or be enemies. Some cultures spec driven. Some are prototype driven. Small companies prototype driven. Big companies spec driven.

9. Move to Prototype-driven Specs Quotes David Kelley as arguing that organizations intending to be innovative need to move from specification-driven prototypes to prototype-driven specifications.

10. The Prototyping Media Gave example of Detroit clay models vs. Toyota CAD models.

11. Questions that a Prototype Can Answer Different questions require different media. In software, different questions may lead to the use of different representations or even different languages. Prototyping may generate new vocabulary such as “suckback” for toothpaste tubes.

12. Prototyping Cycle Rapid prototyping has come to the forefront due to management wisdom that insists that speed to market is the key ingredient for competitiveness. In some companies, prototype is end product of thought, as opposed to development simultaneous with functional specification.

13. Players in the Prototyping Culture Some hesitant to show prototypes to executives. How long does it take from initial development of a prototype until first shown to upper management.

14. Ownership of the Prototype Should be community property. There sometimes is an internal politics of prototypes. In software industry, successful PC software is tested with alpha and beta version prototypes, or so the author says. For example, Intuit’s Quicken had extensive customer feedback from prototypes.

15. Changing a Company’s Prototyping Culture Stuctured innovation process drives prototype development  Sequences of prototypes drive the innovation process. Innovative teams generate innovative prototypes  innovative prototypes are the focus for generating innovative teams.

16. The innovation process Periodic Prototyping Scheduled Prototyping

17. The innovating team Physical objects that help to bridge disciplinary and functional boundaries become more important. Prototyping affects organization Prototyping innovation changes org charts. Avoid departmental turf wars that cripple prototypes.

18. Conclusions: organizations Revise dialog between specs and prototypes. Pick prototyping media with desirable characteristics. Manage scheduling of prototypes. Change prototyping culture.

19. Conclusions: How to Prototype No right answer. Strategies are varied. Develop a mix that serves company’s markets and its products.

20. Profiles by Terry Winograd HyperCard Director Visual Basic

21. HyperCard Bill Atkinson and his team developed HyperCard at Apple Computer in 1987. Scriptable interface builder Direct manipulation set up of interfaces based upon standard graphical user interface elements HyperTalk uses Englishlike constructions.

22. Macromedia Director Sophisticated multimedia developers Animations Metaphor is that of a score and a cast of characters. Language is called Lingo. Usage examples: Kiosk Polished appearance prototype of an application

23. Visual Basic Competent programmers but not user interface wizards Basic language with a directly manipulatable interface builder Less a prototyping language and more a development language

24. Choosing a Prototyping Medium

25. The End of Prototypes