A Conceptual Prototyping Framework for Integrating Human Factors Early in Product Design

A knowledge-base that integrates human factor engineering (HFE) principles and prototyping best-practices for the design of human-centered products does not exist. This study fills this gap by proposing a prototyping framework to unify HFE principles and prototyping guidelines along with a prototyping toolbox. The framework is based on the House of Prototype Guidelines (HOPG), which introduces ``Prototyping Categories and Dimensions'' that are used for understanding the prototyping requirements and identifying the specifications that can be used to build a prototype. Additionally, a prototyping toolbox is introduced to classify tools and technologies to build the proposed prototype. The HOPG and prototyping toolbox are integrated via an MS Excel User-form, which proposes a systematic selection filter based on user input. The overall goal of this framework is to guide the prototyping activities in the right direction before the actual hands-on prototyping activity starts. Additionally, in this study, a cost-benefit analysis tool is proposed to calculate the value of the prototype by measuring the information gained and the resources spent. The cost-benefit analysis helps designers in narrowing down the prototyping options. A prototyping problem taken from the literature is used as a case study to demonstrate the usability and efficacy of the framework.