M A K E Rs As Innovators Century Skills INNOVATION LIBRARY Prototyping CHERRY LAKE PUBLISHING ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN by Eric Cook
Century Skills INNOVATION LIBRARY Contents Chapter 1 What Is Prototyping Chapter 2 why Prototype Chapter 3 The Process of Prototyping 15 Chapter 4 Evaluating and Revising 22 Glossary 30 Find Out More 31 Index 32 About the Author 32
MAKERS AS INNOVATORS Chapter 1 What Is Prototyping hat if your parents said Do your home work but make sure you don't finish it Imagine if your teacher told you Don't spend too much time on your assignment because you'll just wind up changing it later These might seem like crazy things to say However there are times when they are exactly what you should do Learning to build quick unfinished drafts of your ideas is an important part of becoming a more effective maker We even give this process a special name prototyping Prototyping means making a rough draft of an idea so you can test it out An artist might draw sketches in pencil before taking the time to make a big painting Similarly makers create prototypes to evaluate their designs show ideas to other people and think through problems before it is too late to make changes Like an artist s sketches prototypes are quick sloppy and easy to throw away if they don't turn out right
PROTOTYPING Even simple materials such as colored paper and sticky notes can be used to create useful prototypes Prototypes can be created with any kind of tools and materials you have at hand from simple paper or sticky notes to specialized computer software In this book you'll learn about some common techniques for prototyping You'll also find out what makes these methods useful With these tools in your kit you'll be a more effective designer and maker whether you're trying to create a Web site a 3D model a robot butler or anything else Let's get started by meeting two makers named Shona and Leo They will each be working on their
