Understanding prototype testing: how student designers structure sessions and ask questions with stakeholders
Pa Chang Vang, Carlye Lauff · Proceedings of the Design Society · 2025
ABSTRACT: While prototype testing with stakeholders is key for valuable feedback in iterative design, there is limited research on how novice designers, who lack the relevant experience, solicit meaningful feedback. This paper analyzes 30 prototype testing sessions from five student design teams to understand how novices structure their testing time by identifying and reporting the instances of testing interactions and types of questions within different contexts. Initial findings show that novices effectively set up testing, engage in active listening, and ask more close-ended follow-up questions. However, they rarely conclude sessions, seek stakeholder questions, and use fewer leading questions in later testing sessions. This preliminary understanding highlights opportunities to strengthen novices’ skills in prototype testing and how testing approaches affect stakeholder feedback quality.