A PROPOSAL FOR A PROTOTYPING METHOD FOCUSED ON COMMUNICATION THAT INCREASES ECONOMIES OF PROTOTYPING

In recent years, studies on efficient strategies in prototyping have been accelerated in number. Among them, studies on the economies of prototyping, which analyze the relationship between the gained value of prototyping and its fidelity, are being conducted. However, the types of prototyping that improve the economies of prototyping are yet to be revealed. Also, it has been indicated that generating communication in prototyping can lead to performance improvement. Therefore, this study focused on communication during the prototyping process and analyzed the economies of prototyping at a private company. First, the economies of prototyping were explored using 27 prototyping and their gained values and fidelity for the private company. Next, each prototyping was categorized using a prototyping category centered on communication to indicate trends in economies of prototyping in each category. Furthermore, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient was calculated to grasp the data relationship between the economies of prototyping and communication. Considering the results of the above analyses, we proposed a prototyping method that improves the economies of prototyping. Specifically, we proposed the technique of “prototyping that involves external stakeholders early on in the development stage and shortens expended time” as this leads to enhanced economies of prototyping. This study suggests the possibility of improving the economies of prototyping by consciously implementing “prototyping in a way that reduces the time required while involving external stakeholders at an early stage.”