trial run
prototype
To develop a Prototype of the project is the 4th step in the Design Process.
Much like the drafting phase of the writing process, students were expected to develop their ideas and plans into a deliverable or “thing.” This step was a trial run for how their projects would take shape. Planning and doing are two very different processes. Moreover, plans can become too complicated and altogether undoable. So, the prototypes of each project intended to test limitations.
Despite the Prototype being merely a 1st iteration of a “thing,” working the process was critical to the project’s success. It is important to qualify the term “success” as I did not use the term in a conventional sense. As the instructor, my evaluation criteria focused on student growth through the development of their ideas. Put simply- I evaluated process, not product. Student deliverables were neither expected to be aesthetically sophisticated nor polished to perfection; instead, I should have been able to recognize how a student’s plan materialized in their “thing.” Could I see how the student worked toward achieving a goal that they set forth in design journals 1,2, and 3? Was the student able to make edits and revisions in response to both intended and unintended audiences? If there was evidence of such, then the student was successful in what they set out to do. Through feedback loops, we could continue to collaborate on improving the deliverable.
Students submitted the prototypes of each of their projects as the Project Builder 1 (PB-1). Each project had three Project Builders in addition to a series of four Design Journals. These elements supported students by breaking the project down into smaller, more manageable parts so that the students would ultimately complete the projects.