One of our course participants wearing a cut-out of a prototype for a new process made from cardboard
Courses

Prototyping

Learn to iterate your ideas, fail fast & identify user needs with prototypes
Online
Design Thinking

Overview

Course information

Design thinking is all about developing products and services that address real user needs. Prototyping helps you test your ideas: determining if you are solving the right problem, creating the right solution, failing fast if you aren’t & improving your concept through an iterative process of learning-by-doing.

Our online Prototyping course goes beyond digital user experience and gives you the skills to design human-centred prototypes for any context where you see an opportunity for change. It enables you to navigate the risk and uncertainty involved in developing a new product and gives you evidence and confidence when applying for funding or launching a product to market.

What you’ll learn

  • The different types of prototypes and how they are used to validate concepts.

  • How to make your own prototypes.

  • The process of testing a prototype and collecting user feedback. When and how to use different prototyping techniques.

  • How to modify a prototype by incorporating user input.

  • Approaches to scaling up prototypes while continuing to test and learn.

The coaching team:

Register your interest

There are no dates currently scheduled for our Prototyping course.

Please get in touch if you would like to join the waitlist for the course, or to arrange our coaches to run this course in-house for you & your team.

Get in touch In-house courses

Who’s it for?

This online Prototyping course is for anyone who has an idea and wants to turn it into a reality: from corporate innovators & entrepreneurs, to marketing or HR professionals trying to make a difference – it could be anyone from any field. Prototyping is all about getting ideas off the ground and generating support for them.   

Prior knowledge is not essential, but the course is best for people that have completed introductory training in design thinking (for example our Design Thinking Fundamentals course) and want to explore one of its essential methods in more depth. Supported by our expert coaches, participants will gain the knowledge, experience and confidence to design and build prototypes that ensure they are developing the right products for the right people.   

Session-by-session summary

1.

Have an idea? Put it to the test
Getting to grips with the process

In the first session you will meet the coaches & your fellow participants, then learn how prototyping can be used to refine an idea: from addressing a specific challenge to testing a new concept. To reinforce the practical applications of prototyping, you’ll by storyboarding a real-world scenario & identifying the most impactful opportunities which would benefit from prototyping. 

Topics covered 

  • Introductions 
  • The basics of prototyping 
  • Storyboarding 
  • Identifying opportunities for prototyping 

2.

Bringing a concept to life through rapid prototyping
Failing fast & seeing things differently

Session 2 helps you understand how different prototyping techniques & incorporating various levels of detail can help you explore aspects of your concept & communicate in different ways. You’ll learn how mocking up different aspects of your concept can help you identify problems early and fail fast. 

Topics covered 

  • Different prototyping techniques 
  • The impact of including more or less detail in prototypes 
  • How to communicate effectively when user testing 
  • Working at pace 

3.

User testing and iterating your prototype
Innovating & improving your prototypes

Learn how to create prototypes that prompt specific questions for testing and iteration. The final session of this course will help you understand how to gather user feedback, prioritise changes & refine your concepts into successful next steps. The coaches will then round off by discussing how prototyping can be applied in environments beyond the workshop & certificates will be awarded. 

Topics covered 

  • Creating prototypes for specific purposes. 
  • Gathering & making good use of user feedback 
  • How to refine your concepts using available data 
  • Using prototypes in your broader work life 

What Prototyping alumni say

I would definitely recommend this course for anyone who wants to have a concise deep dive on prototyping. It combines theory & practical tools with real life scenarios & challenges.

Anna Karadimitriou
VP CX and innovation, Focus

Fast paced and full of tips, tools and techniques that you can implement at work the next day!

Sidharth Sharma
Creative Director, Shambala Festival

I recommend this fantastic streamlined programme to innovators from all industries. A refreshing take on how to bring business concepts to life through prototyping - invaluable learning!

Annemarie Sheridan-Antille
Head of Knitwear, Alexander McQueen

Our live teaching approach

Expert coaching Reveal more
Learning from experienced design thinkers & interactive workshops.
Collaborative innovation Reveal more
Co-creating with others & exploring how to drive innovation within a team.
Networking opportunities Reveal more
Connecting with people from around the world & expanding personal networks.

The coaching team

View profile

Goldie Chaudhuri

Associate Design Director
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Dave Caygill

Strategist & Coach

Related articles & podcasts

Podcasts
Prototyping
The power of prototypes

The power of prototypes

Ben Crisp
In this podcast, we spoke to Anne Marie to learn about our prototyping course, using prototypes and her experiences in the world of fashion.
See all blogs & podcasts

FAQs

How will the course be taught?

At Design Thinkers Academy London we’re committed to teaching all our online courses live, facilitated by an experienced coach with no pre-recorded content. This design thinking Prototyping course is split into 3 sessions each lasting 2.5 hours and held over Zoom.

What equipment do I need?

Equipment: To attend these online prototyping classes you’ll need: a computer with a good connection to the internet, microphone, webcam & speakers or headphones.   

Tools: The sessions are held over Zoom, with Mural and Google Docs used for collaborative team exercises throughout the course. 

How long will the course take?

The course itself lasts 7.5 hours over 3 sessions (2.5 hours each), and there is also some self-directed work to be completed after the first session which can be completed within an hour.

English isn’t my first language. Does that matter?

As this Prototyping course is taught in English, to get the most out of the experience you will need to have a good grasp of basic English.

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