Notes to support the presentation Rapid Prototyping.

1. Page 1
Notes for Rapid Prototyping
• I first encountered the problematic relationship between plans and situated
actions when, after years of trying to follow Gagné's theory of instructional
design, I repeatedly found myself, as an instructional designer, making ad hoc
decisions throughout the design and development process. At first, I attributed
this discrepancy to my own inexperience as an instructional designer. Later,
when I became more experienced, I attributed it to the incompleteness of
instructional design theories. Theories were, after all, only robust and mature at
the end of a long developmental process, and instructional design theories had a
very short history. Lately, however, I have begun to believe that the discrepancy
between instructional design theories and instructional design practice will
never be resolved because instructional design practice will always be a form of
situated activity (i.e. depend on the specific, concrete, and unique circumstances
of the project I am working on).
— from Streibel, M. (1991). Instructional plans and situated learning: The
challenge of Suchman's theory of situated action for instructional designers and
instructional systems. In G.Anglin (Ed.),Instructional technology: Past, Present,
and Future (pp. 122). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
History
• Originated in 1960s in manufacturing industry with the development of
computer controlled tools
• 1970s brought the creation of mathematical 3D solid models and the first
Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems
• 1980s Introduction of Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF); Rapid Prototyping is
used in many manufacturing processes
• From 1980s, Rapid Prototyping is also used throughout most software
development design
Why do it?
• Clarify Needs
• Enhance creativity
• Reduce errors in final product
• Increase usability
• Increase customer acceptance
Risks
• Method not understood by client or developers
• Endless revision
• Premature release
• Goal/feature creep
• Project management requirements different
Michael M. Grant 2010

2. Page 2
• Vertical Prototypes - in-depth functionality for a few features
• Horizontal Prototypes - entire screen with no underlying functionality
• Paper prototypes - easy to change. users perceive that it is easier to change. Often
throwing in color or artwork make a use thing that they cannot suggest changes.
• Wireframe Prototypes / Wireframing - nothing visual, just shaded blocks
explaining what will be there
• Storyboarding
• Electronic prototypes (inspiration)
Look and Feel Prototype
• Can deal with style
• Colors
• Effects, such as drop shadows
• Divisions of screen areas (real estate)
• Use of mouse gestures
Media Prototype
• Can explore use of sound effects, narration, 3D illustration, video, etc.
Navigation Prototype
• Can illustrate the capabilities to move from one activity to another
• How to access reference materials and services, such as glosssary, notebook,
calculator, personal performance data
Interactivity Prototype
• Can illustrate designs of the context, activity and feedback
• How do the practice items work?
• What types of interactions are embedded to interact with the content
Advantages
• It encourages and requires active student participation in the design process.
• Iteration and change are natural consequences of instructional systems
development. Clients tend to change their minds.
• Clients don't know their requirements until they see them implemented.
• An approved prototype is the equivalent of a paper specification with one
exception—errors can be detected earlier.
Michael M. Grant 2010

3. Page 3
• Prototyping can increase creativity through quicker user feedback.
• Prototyping accelerates the development cycle.
Disadvantages
• Prototyping can lead to a design-by-repair philosophy, which is only an excuse
for lack of discipline.
• Prototyping does not eliminate the need for front-end analysis. It cannot help if
the situation is not amenable to instructional design.
• A prototype cannot substitute completely for a paper analysis.
• There may be many instructional design problems which are not addressed bv
prototvping.
• Prototyping may lead to premature commitment to a design if it is not
remembered that a design is only a hypothesis.
• When prototyping an instructional package, creeping featurism (the adding of
bells and whistles) may lead to designs that get out of control.
Tips
• Suspend good programming practices that require time or thought; faster is
better.
• Don’t be concerned with media or a polished look.
• Fake everything you can.
• Focus on interactivity, because people have trouble judging it until they’ve
actually seen it.
• Remember more prototypes are better than fewer, more complete prototypes.
Design + Development
• Rapid prototyping can be used with both design and development.
• I’m recommending that you conduct design and development concurrently, using
rapid prototyping for developing and feeding the information you need for design.
References
Allen, M. (2007). Designing successful e-Learning, Michael Allen's online learning
library: Forget what you know about instructional design and do something interesting.
San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Allen Interactions. (n.d.) Supervisor effectiveness: Employee security [interactive
module, images]. Retrieved February 4, 2010 from
http://www.alleninteractions.com/demos/corning/course/supervisoreffectiveness.swf
Lynch, M.M. & Roecker, J. (2007). Project managing e-learning: A handbook for
successful design, delivery and management. New York: Routledge.
Piskurich, G.M. (2006). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right (2nd
Michael M. Grant 2010

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ed.). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Rieber, L.P. (1999). Comparing design and development within rapid prototyping and
formative evaluation [image]. Retrieved February 4, 2010 from
http://it.coe.uga.edu/studio/seminars/rpfe.html
Streibel, M. (1991). Instructional plans and situated learning: The challenge of
Suchman's theory of situated action for instructional designers and instructional
systems. In G.Anglin (Ed.),Instructional technology: Past, Present, and Future (pp.
122). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
Tripp, S., & Bichelmeyer, B. (1990). Rapid prototyping: An alternative instructional
design strategy [image]. Educational Technology Research & Development, 38(1),
31-44.
Michael M. Grant 2010