Rapid Prototyping

Having had a bit of experience with software and multimedia development, I was interested in this approach.  Software, and multimedia projects, have traditionally been developed using what is commonly called the "Waterfall Cycle".  This cycle, listed here, is fairly similar to the ADDIE model in structure.
  1. requirements definition
  2. preliminary design
  3. detailed design
  4. code implementation
  5. test and acceptance
  6. [griping]
Basically, you define the requirement at the  beginning from A to Z.  That specifies what the end product will or won't do.  The project is approved or dissaproved after nearly every conceivable detail has been hashed out and documented.  Only at that point will development commence.  This documentation usually includes a timetable, budget allocations, etc.  While this would appear to be a good model, know what you're going to do before you do it, there are some inherent problems. 
 
For example, let's say there is a new course that needs to be developed.  It is done using the waterfall system with features A-T defined.
  • What happens if you discover during development that feature A is not possible withing the timeframe given?
  • What happens when your boss says new feature Z,  not defined in the original documentation, is crucial to the project even if it will requires that features H-T be completely rewritten and project is supposed to be released in 1 week?
  • What if feature B is found to be completely useless to every user, even though 50% of the development time is dedicated towards it and leaving it out will alse require a complete rewrite of feature H-T?
 
Anyways, enough of what Rapid Prototyping is not.  Rapid prototyping is often refered to as a spiral cycle described here:
  1. concept definition
  2. implementation of a skeletal system
  3. user evaluation and concept refinement
  4. implementation of refined requirements
  5. user evaluation and concept refinement
  6. implementation of refined requirements

Notice how steps 3-6 are really just a repeat of each other?  The whole system would be repeated over and over over the life of the project.  Continually being evaluated and improved.  The entire system does not have to be defined at the beginning because it will be worked out as things are made.  This "loose" method, allows for a lot of flexibility and modification.  An initial set of goals is defined, and the scope and sequence evolves as it is evaluated over time.

An example of this approach appled to course development, a web paged course, can be found on  this page and  I have outlined it here.

  • First pass
    • Lots of text
    • All the information was there in text format
    • It was found that student didn't want to read that much text at once.
  • Second pass
    • Smaller graphic at top to increase screen "real estate"
    • More graphics, text has more associated graphics and is split into more defined sections
  • Third pass
    • An image map is put on the first page to allow the student to choose the section to visit
    • This prototype was found to be much more successful
  • Most recent
    • Similar to the third
    • Implimentation of some interactive components such as sharing of comments, links, other resources, etc.

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Disclaimer

Any opinions expressed here, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual authors or commenters and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, or Utah State University.