Prototyping involves more than just the creation of a tactile mockup. It’s both a proof of concept using off the shelf hardware mixed with other materials and a fully-functional product constructed of precision-crafted components. To that end, we have partitioned the prototyping process into three classifications: what we’ll call the Alpha, Beta, and Pilot. Each phase represents a step forward along a product roadmap.
At the alpha phase we create the first iteration of prototypes to primarily answering two questions:
Answering these questions usually necessitates two separate prototypes, each one specifically created to address basic functionality and user experience respectively. We can refer to these first two as the proof of concept and the appearance prototypes.
After a confident result is achieved in the proof of concept stage, we create an appearance prototype. This model answers the question "how will it look and feel?" and offers a taste of the final design. This appearance prototype is visually representative while lacking actual functionality. In this static model without working features, we help to create a wholly concerned item with providing a sense of the look and feel. At this stage, we put increased effort through the use of CNC machined parts and 3D printing to create a prototype that is similar to the appearance of the final product, and this stage will employ higher quality materials such as medium density fiberboard (MDF), solid wood, foam, laser/punched sheet metal and clay to simulate the user experience.
At this phase, we seek to refine and improve upon the product design, taking testing feedback and lessons learned from earlier iterations and incorporating them as the process inches toward a final product. It’s also an opportunity to create prototypes that more closely resemble the final product in terms of both appearance and functionality, providing avenues for more robust and intensive testing. This phase relies on two new versions: the engineering prototype and the production prototype.
At this stage we create a product to resemble the final product in form, though in a rougher version. This product is represents a visual, functional and manufacturing representation model, which is a direct successor for the proof of concept prototype with an attempt made to mimic the appearance as well. It’s meant to be deployed for controlled customer and field trials in order to validate the design, its main purpose being to demonstrate systems viability in an operational environment. This helps to test the functionality of the product before a further investment into higher-grade materials is made. We have the required expertise to properly choose the required specialized components such as electronics and hardware including custom printed circuit boards, software, custom hardware etc. It’s during this iteration we test the viability of these specialized components under real-world conditions and will ultimately demonstrate whether the result has been successful.
After the engineering prototype has been successfully tested, we create a production prototype. This is the last confirmation before designs are released for mass-production tooling. The key difference lies in the quality of materials used, as it is designed to be both fully functional and virtually indistinguishable in appearance from the final product. At this point, the prototype still does not have the cost benefit of mass-produced components, meaning the use of the final materials may be prohibitively expensive. Therefore, we use alternative materials to resemble the finished ones. Sometimes decisions are made to skip the production prototype depending on the combination of confidence level and remaining risk in the product design. In most cases, manufacturing methods between the engineering and production prototypes are essentially identical.
We conduct advance testing in this phase, to validate the final system design. While not yet totally ready for certification testing, this prototype serves as the final assessment of aesthetics, colors, textures, functionality, manufacturing readiness, customer field trials and overall design verification. This version can be used as a final prototype for sales and marketing purposes, allowing stakeholders to test the user experience and evaluate its performance before production tooling is created. Once the final tests have been run, viability assessed and a successful business case review made, it's time to begin ramping up production.
In this phase, it’s constructed using mass-production manufacturing methods and could, in fact, be sold. Yet it's still considered a prototype because of the need for product quality reviews and approvals, final product testing and product certification (if required). Electronic components and hardware are typically unchanged from the engineering or production prototype. However, mechanical component materials and construction methods can change significantly, such as plastic components constructed from injection molding, blow molding and thermoforming methods and metallic components manufactured from methods including die casting and metal stamping.
The final prototype is really the start of mass production and is called the pilot, essentially the first unit to roll off the assembly line. A pilot prototype will traditionally be provided to independent testing labs responsible for issuing product certifications. Once these final certifications have been received, the product can be considered ready for commercial deployment.
Based on user requirements and concept designs, QuantumPoint applies scientific principles to develop robust user interfaces and medium to high-fidelity prototypes, simulating the interactive user experience. Our prototypes demonstrate actual workflows in the relevant environment, and are often evolved into functional for evaluation in operational environments. Our multidisciplinary teams, consisting of cognitive scientists, interaction designers, subject matter experts, design engineers and software developers, work flexibly within the constraints of the end user environment and the desires of our customers. We integrate user requirements with the developers to ensure a smooth transition from research to final operational effectiveness. Our resulting solutions are innovative, yet practical.
