Virtual and Physical Prototyping Practices: Finding the Right Fidelity Starts With Understanding the Product

Prototypes have long been deemed critical to the success of product development, yet there has been little formal study of the tradeoffs between different alternative prototype forms. We propose a normative model that enables the selection of an appropriate prototype typology for a given product type. Based on observations from 11 different firms, we explore the tension between the cost effectiveness and ease of iteration of virtual prototypes versus the high-fidelity yet more costly physical prototypes. We discovered that the selection of prototype states primarily depends on the product newness and we were able to propose a decision model for typology selection with the other variables being the aesthetic and structural requirements of the product. We generated eight propositions based on our grounded theory study and we were able to expand the boundary of the known benefits and risks of the various prototype states.