Development of a communication model for the efficient exchange of information between user and designer

Designer and user have different perspectives on a product. This can lead to differences in their evaluation and classification in usage situations. Not least, products are evaluated from different backgrounds of experience. Communication between user and designer therefore appears to be crucial to support this mutual process of understanding. Prototyping is a widely used and recognised tool in development. The use of these as non-verbal instruments in communication, however, poses specific challenges for the designer, since ambiguities in interpretation are also possible here. The aim of this paper is therefore to develop a model that describes the communication between developer and user via prototypes to identify factors influencing the communication-process. Based on this communication model, initial implications for the design of prototypes will be derived