Design Studies (2020): The Role of Prototypes in Communication between Stakeholders
础产蝉迟谤补肠迟:听Prototypes are complex and dynamic artifacts that shape social situations during product development. A ten-month applied ethnographic study of a footwear company recounts prototypes鈥 evolving role in communication between three stakeholder groups. In this case study, we use Mol鈥檚 鈥渂odies multiple鈥 theory to describe prototypes enactment as communication tools across contexts. This study finds that prototypes become encoded with information that is translated, decoded, and re-encoded by stakeholder groups. Prototypes can remain the same across contexts, yet the spokesperson guiding the prototype may change. Raising awareness of prototypes role in communication, such as their ability to build confidence through socialization, can allow design teams to better plan for how information is encoded into the prototyped artifact and the messaging surrounding it.
Lauff, C., Knight, D., Kotys-Schwartz, D., Rentschler, M.E., "The Role of Prototypes in Communication between Stakeholders," Design Studies. 66: 1-34, 2020.
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