*Using prototypes during design requirements elicitation (RE) interviews with stakeholders can encourage stakeholder participation. Stakeholders' engagement and the quality of the feedback provided can be impacted by stakeholders' experience of the RE interview, especially in a cross-cultural design setting. Recommendations for design methods focus on the benefits to the designers and omit the potential impact on the experience of the stakeholder. This study investigated the stakeholders' preferences for the number of prototypes presented during RE interviews about three devices to facilitate contraceptive implant removal in Ghana, in a cross-cultural design setting. The findings revealed that most participants (94%) preferred seeing prototypes during the interview because prototypes* *enabled participants to better understand the design space, provide feedback, and evaluate ideas. Prototypes provided participants with a mental model to use as a basis for answering designers' questions. When they were not provided with a prototype, participants created a new mental model by imagining a novel device or recalling a device from their experience. Without a mental model, some participants could not answer the questions. These findings suggest that designers seeking input from stakeholders at the problem definition stage should consider using prototypes to lessen the mental load of stakeholders, unless they are interested in collecting design ideas from stakeholders.*


Stakeholder Perceptions of Requirements Elicitation Interviews With and Without Prototypes in a Cross-Cultural Design Setting

Division / Sponsors: 
Design Engineering Division and Computers & Information In Engineering Division


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IDETC-CIE/IDETC-CIE2020/volume/83907

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