So, you've got an idea and you want to see what people think of it.
You need to make a prototype, because you need to test the idea and see if it's actually a good idea or if you need to go back to the drawing board.
So, to make a physical prototype, you need to start with a sketch.
You need to take that idea from your head, down into pencil and paper.
Doesn't matter if you can't draw, I can't personally, you need to get that idea out and onto something tangible.
Then you're ready to start making a 3D model, to make your physical prototypes.
So, if you can't 3D model that's actually not really a problem these days, you can find someone who can.
Team up with them and get a basic model out.
But don't spend too long on it.
Cause you need to get to the next stage fast.
And that is making the actual prototype.
So you can take a 3D model and convert it into a file for 3D printing very easily.
Leave it overnight and come back to an actual 3D print which you can then test.
And this is the most important part, you need to test it quickly and thoroughly, and then go back and iterate on your design.
And repeat this process till your happy with it.
But if you get further down the process and find out that you need to change something it's a lot more difficult.
So, don't be afraid of failure early on.
You want to test things as much as possible and iterate on that idea till you happy with it.
I'm an industrial designer and as an industrial designer we're very interested in testing prototypes for a number of different reasons.
And I've got some examples here of how we've run through a project.
This is a pair of glasses we've designed, and the first prototype is a low quality FDM print, which was form deposition modelling.
And we've done this to check the physical appearance and the scale of the design.
Once we're happy with that, we'll move to an SLS.
So, this is a Select Laser Sintering, it's made of nylon, and in this instance people are actually wearing the glasses.
So, we're interested in how they flex and feel and how the lenses snap in and out.
So, it's more expensive but a higher quality.
We then want to check some of the mechanical functions.
So, in this instance we've gone to a SLA, a resin process, with SLS hinges.
And we're checking the tolerancing between the parts and to make sure the mechanical functions are right.
We've then moved to a low-quality prototype tool, where we've injected actual polymers into the mould to check how the material affects the design.
And finally, these are the final production glasses.
Which is again injection moulded, but in a higher quality production tool.
And brings all the elements of the design together.
Really when you're testing a prototype you really want to test it to failure.
You want to know where your design or idea doesn't work, and not where it works.
Often, I'll see people test a prototype and say, "isn't it great, it does all these things"
but they're ignoring an inherent flaw which will bring you undone, if you don't expose it early.
In the boating scenario, it's making a boat and testing it till it fails.
Working out, you know, how many people can you fit in it before it capsizes, trying to drop test and break them.
So, for us we build these things, which are smart helmets.
We destroyed heaps of them.
These are made 3D printing and CNC milling and we just got them out there.
Test the user interfaces and destroy them.
Often, we miss the user experience of our products, and a great way to get that out there
is to give your product as a prototype to lots of just regular people.
They'll give you honest feedback, whether it all makes sense or not.
Often, when you're beginning your idea, you want to put all the greatest functions into it.
But it's really about time and getting it to market fast.
What you need to do, is to draw all the functions and features that you have in your product.
Put red lines through the ones that don't have to be there in the first one, and make it finished, not perfect.
There's a first time for everything, and we're, still testing this series.
If you could leave some comments and suggestions it would be really helpful for us to improve the program.