Experience prototyping
Any setup, in any material, that lets a person experience firsthand what it would be like to use a product, a space, or a service, instead of just seeing it explained.
What it’s for
It helps you feel what using an idea is like, which a drawing or a presentation can’t convey, and uncover details no one had anticipated.
Key elements
Live it, don't watch it
The person takes part with their body and in context, not just watching an explanation.
Just enough to feel it
It's enough to recreate the essence of the experience, with simple means.
In context
It's tried where and how it would be used, with what goes on around it.
How it’s done
Choose the moment of the experience you need to understand or test.
Recreate it with the minimum and have someone live it firsthand.
Note what it felt like and change the idea.
Applications in design
When to use it
To understand an experience you can't access, or to let the team or a client feel an idea before building it.
Avoid
Polishing the setup before you know which moment you want to test.
Don’t fall for it
Living it yourself isn't the same as having the people who will use it live it: test it with them too.
Connections
Authors and works
- 2000
Marion Buchenau and Jane Fulton Suri
At IDEO, they gave it three uses: understanding experiences, exploring ideas and communicating them. In one case, the team carried pagers that went off at random to feel what living with a defibrillator that can deliver a shock at any moment is like.
Sources
Original sources
- Buchenau, M., & Fulton Suri, J. (2000). Experience prototyping. In Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS ’00) (pp. 424–433). ACM. View source: Buchenau, M., & Fulton Suri, J. (2000)
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