Rapid prototyping is an intensive process of
collecting information on requirements and on the adequacy and
functionality of fairly new product designs. Model prototyping is an
important data resource during the different stages of product
development. Model prototyping makes use of various kinds of rapid
prototyping techniques to provide the right model types used for
different testing procedures. Such techniques may require the use of
requirements animation, incremental, and evolutionary prototyping.
1.
Requirements Animation- is the method used mainly to demonstrate
functionality in test cases that can be easily assessed by users.
Software tools are used to produce representational prototype models
that are built using animation packages as well as screen painters.
2.
Incremental prototyping- enables the development of large prototype
system models installed in phases in order to avoid delays between
product specification and its final delivery into the consumer market.
Once the customer and supplier have agreed on certain core features,
the installation of a skeleton system is applied as soon as possible.
Important requirements can be checked out as the model is being used,
enabling changes to core features while in operation with extra and
optional features can be added later.
3. Evolutionary
prototyping- considered as the most integral form of prototyping. It
acts as a compromise between production methods and with that of model
prototyping. Employing this technique, a model prototype is initially
constructed that is then evaluated as it evolves continually and
becomes a highly improved end product. Many designers believe that more
acceptable systems would result if evolutionary prototyping were
interconnected with periods of requirements animation or rapid
prototyping. Here the tools are the actual facilities resources where
the final system will be implemented.
The use of different model
prototyping techniques can help do away with the uncertainties about
how well a final design may be able to fit into the end user's needs.
The different model prototyping techniques help product designers make
the necessary decisions by obtaining information from initial test
users about the effective functionality of a certain product prototype.
Model
prototyping can also be an effective aid in determining how effective
and ideal the features and the overall design can be for proposed
users. Model prototyping and the subsequent testing procedures can
provide useful representation information that can reveal possible
design flaws, effective features as well as useless functions that can
either be corrected, enhanced or done away with on the next stages of
product development.
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