Mod. 10 Reflection - Prototyping Part 1

Reflect on the following prompt: Improving the Concept — Based on your visioning phase you have identified your breakthrough concept(s) and you are willing to test them in the Prototyping phase. In the prototyping phase you will be getting feedback via various forms of user testing exercises to improve the concept.

How will prototyping help you potentially iterate, enhance or pivot on your breakthrough concept in a tangible and practical way? If throughout your prototyping you receive user feedback that challenges underlying assumptions of your breakthrough concept how might you approach iterating on your concept?

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The prototyping phase for me will be the truest test of my idea. While the concept for “You’re Welcome Here!” draws from the experiences of non-native ethnic groups and refugees resettling in new countries and those supporting their resettlement, I am most excited to see what it looks like as a new resident of Baltimore to invest energy, time and resources into learning more about this challenge and process. Beyond the potential good that it may do for these groups, it’s personally a very fascinating question and area to investigate. I view it as a very small way of stepping into the lived experience of so many Americans who emigrated here and see a fraction of what their experience is like.

I would say that the two areas that will challenge me the most are unlearning assumptions about both groups (i.e. refugees and resettlement orgs) and growing more comfortable with failure or perhaps imperfect success. Like Meg, I tend to only do what I’m good at and my perfectionist tendencies can cause me to view learning opportunities as failures. Developing numerous metrics of success and failure will be key in the prototyping phase to help me refine the project and determine where and what parts have the highest likelihood for success during the implementation and scaling phase.