Prototyping for user involvement activities: How to achieve major benefits

Abstract Prototypes enable the materialization of information and generate a common reference for those involved in the design process. The literature discusses how different types of prototype assist the user involvement in the design of healthcare products. However, it does not discuss how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process of prototype uses. To address this gap and advance the literature of this field, this paper aims to present the different purposes of using a prototype during user involvement activities and the benefits achieved during each phase of the design process. The presented work is the result of the study of multiple cases from the literature and the application of evidence-based research procedures to identify and investigate the purposes of using different types of prototypes. As a result, we present a rich discussion and a framework to guide designers and help them to derive better results from using different types of prototypes for user involvement in the medical design process.