The Impact of Resolution and Material Selection on a Prototype Assessment
Authors: Pais Vitor , M. Sampaio Álvaro , Costa Nelson , J. Pontes António 
Published: November 2024

Prototypes are a well-established artefacts that are used to express and validate ideas and concepts in the product design and development process, enabling team members, stakeholders, or final users to provide feedback (Gero, 1990). Despite the usefulness of prototypes in facilitating the development process, challenges associated with their usage have emerged over time. Prototypes can be developed in a variety of ways, ranging from low-fidelity paper prototypes, commonly used in software development, to high-fidelity pre- production prototypes that closely resemble the final product (Pei et al., 2010, 2011). Nevertheless, a consensus regarding the classification of these artifacts remains uncertain due to divergent perspectives presented by various authors, e.g. Coughlan et al. (2007), Jensen et al. (2016) and Pei et al. (2011). Regardless, there are an agreement that the differences in complexity among those are referred to as fidelity or resolution, and the major issue is to determinate timing, methodology and context to apply them in the design process. The resolution of prototypes pertains to the level of information conveyed by each artifact and its clarity in communicating its intended function. Scholars such as Jensen et al. (2016) and Lim et al. (2008) emphasize the importance of aligning prototype resolution with its intended purpose. Conversely, Pei et al. (2011) offer a detailed taxonomy categorizing prototypes based on predefined characteristics. Several researchers, including Catani & Biers (1998), Sauer et al. (2008), and Wiklund et al. (1992), have compared prototypes of varying fidelity and concluded that lower fidelity prototypes can yield comparable results to high-fidelity ones. However, recent studies by Deininger et al. (2017) and Jensen et al. (2018) have focused on how resolution influences user satisfaction, finding a preference for higher-fidelity prototypes that are easier to understand. Nevertheless, none of these studies have directly examined the relationship between prototype resolution and user performance. This study aims to investigate the impact of prototype resolution on performance assessment using six prototypes. Thirty-three participants were involved, divided into six groups, with ages ranging from 18 to 58 years (mean = 23.7 years; SD = 7.4). The prototypes, denoted as V1 to V6, were developed to simulate design iterations of a Citroen Xsara steering wheel, with two prototypes classified as low fidelity, two as medium fidelity, and two as high fidelity, each iteration increasing in resolution, information density, and detail. All prototypes were tested on a driving simulator utilizing a SuperDrive SV250® kit with steering wheel and pedals, connected to the Assetto Corsa® video game software. The findings indicate that while higher resolutions tend to exhibit gradual improvement in performance, with better results corresponding to increased resolution, lower resolutions do not demonstrate this linear behaviour. Notably, V1 performed similarly to V3, while V2 exhibited the poorest performance. This phenomenon may be attributed to the design of the prototypes, particularly V2 and V3, which feature a blended interface, leading participants to interact directly with labels, the most contrasting details on the prototypes. In contrast, V1, despite having a complete 2D layout, offers a more coherent design, facilitating interpretation for participants.