EAGER: Engaging Stakeholders with Prototypes: Practitioner Approaches during Front-end Design

这一早期概念探索性研究(AGUGER)赠款支持在工程设计项目的早期阶段使用原型的基础研究。在大多数项目中，这是一个关键时刻。工程设计人员根据他们对用户需求和需求的理解来制定设计问题。在这个阶段的误解可能危及项目的成功。原型可能是理解人们需要什么和想要什么产品的关键，从而决定设计的最终成功。然而，目前的原型使用报告表明，当设计师与潜在的设计用户互动时，原型没有充分发挥其潜力。这项研究的目标是捕捉行业从业者基于他们对工程设计项目的描述以及在他们使用原型与用户互动时对他们的行动的观察而使用的最佳实践策略。由于医疗器械作为工程设计问题的丰富性和对社会的重要性，本研究将主要集中在医疗器械设计问题上。这项研究中确定的基本战略将是可转移的，影响许多工程领域的实践者处理利益相关者参与的方式。这将促进工程产品设计的更高生产率和创新，并最终为最终用户提供更好的产品。这项研究调查设计从业者在设计的前端阶段使用原型的行为和策略，特别是为了定义设计问题和引出产品需求而吸引利益相关者的行为和策略。研究方法包括以设计项目为中心的半结构化访谈(包括回顾和接近实时)、文献回顾和观察相结合。数据分析绘图采用迭代方法，允许出现模式和主题。归纳和演绎分析的结合将确保结果是稳健的，并适当地结合背景。这项研究的成果包括在早期设计阶段使用原型与利益攸关方接触的框架，以及记录原型如何成功利用的一系列案例研究。

This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) grant supports fundamental research into the use of prototypes during the earliest stages of engineering design projects. This is a critical juncture in most projects. Engineering designers formulate a design problem based on their understanding of user needs and wants. Misunderstandings at this stage can imperil the success of a project. Prototypes can be key to understanding what people need and want in a product, and thus determining the ultimate success of the design. However, current reports of prototype usage suggest that they are not leveraged to their full potential when designers are interacting with potential users of the design. The goals of this research are to capture best practice strategies used by industry practitioners based on their descriptions of engineering design projects as well as observations of them in action as they use prototypes to engage with users. The study will focus primarily on medical device design problems due to their richness as an engineering design problem and their importance to society. Fundamental strategies identified in this study will be transferrable, impacting the ways practitioners in many engineering areas approach stakeholder engagement. This will promote greater productivity and innovation in engineering product design and, ultimately, better products for end users. This research investigates design practitioner behaviors and strategies for using prototypes during the front-end phases of design, especially for engaging stakeholders for the purposes of defining design problems and eliciting product requirements. Research methods include a combination of design project-centered semi-structured interviews (both retrospective and near real time), document review, and observations. Data analysis draws takes an iterative approach, allowing patterns and themes to emerge. A combination of inductive and deductive analyses will ensure the results are robust and appropriately contextualized. Outcomes of this research include a framework for using prototypes to engage with stakeholders during early design phases and a series of case studies documenting how prototypes have been successfully leveraged.