Comparing parallel and iterative prototyping strategies during engineering design

Prototyping, whether physical, virtual, or computational, is an important step in the engineering design process. Iterative prototyping strategies are commonly taught in engineering curricula and implemented in industry, but there may be other ways to approach the prototyping process. Engineers often use physical prototypes to learn about their designs, communicate ideas, and validate effectiveness. In this study, the effects of iterative and parallel prototyping strategies are compared through a design competition with a heavy focus on gaining knowledge from the physical models. Design success, engineering design self-efficacy, and solution space exploration are considered to evaluate the different effects of these two prototyping strategies. Results suggest that a parallel prototyping strategy yields greater design success, increased confidence and reduced anxiety when conducting engineering design, and greater exploration of the solution space. In addition, participants seem largely unaware of these benefits based a post-prototyping survey. This work shows the value of parallel prototyping, which has implications for how prototyping is taught to engineering novices and how engineering designers in industry should approach the prototyping process. This study also provides strong evidence for a need to study the benefits and drawbacks of a parallel prototypin approach in more complex situations.