There are multiple ways to budget for a rapid project. In projects where time is the main constraint, there is sometimes flexibility in the budget. That is, more money and resources are thrown at the issue to compensate for time constraints. For those working on limited resources, how do teams budget for rapid prototyping projects?
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My research into a rapid prototyping program offers some insight. There are several caveats. The seven companies in my study had budgets for the whole program (six weeks), so I look at the whole instead of the individual weeks/games like in the other articles in the series. Teams chose their own budgets between £10,000-20,000. The budgets were part financed by the accelerator program owner. The teams usually utilized a combination. Teams budgeted for the projects in three ways: adding people, lowering the budget, or exploiting existing assets.
Most companies used the budget to add people to the project teams. Some people were hired directly while others outsourced selective project tasks. Either way, the extra people added hours, skills, or both to enable the project team to respond to the time demands. Like utilizing crunch time (mentioned in a previous post), additional team members increased the total project hours available without impacting the delivery date. Onboarding and team chemistry were the main risks involved, but this method had the advantage of trialing new team members for future projects.
To counter the risks mentioned above, some teams elected for smaller budgets. Hiring skilled workers in the geographic area and industry was hard enough without a deadline. One team determined the benefit did not outweigh the cost. The smaller budgets had the effect, intended or not, of lowering expectations. In some ways, the smaller teams were held to a different standard than the teams adding several new team members.
One way to maximize a limited budget was buying (or renting) existing assets or technologies. All teams utilized existing game engines (like Unreal or Unity) most of the time. The engines could be further maximized by purchasing assets from the online store. For around £70, one team was able to purchase special effects that helped build the most visually stunning demo of the program. Others recycled code from previous projects to gain a head start. In an accelerated project, money spent on pre-made assets deliver better return than custom built options.
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In summary, there are several ways to budget for a rapid project. In the examples here, all teams took advantage of existing assets and technologies in some way. They combined with either additional team members or maintaining lower budgets.
The four articles in this series take a project management perspective on rapid prototyping projects. This short article is based on research from my PhD. Further information can be found at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Devon-Gidley and https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/an-ethnographic-study-of-institutional-work-in-a-creative-proto-i and https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos..
Building a low-cost prototype and testing it with users is one of the most exciting stages of the product design process. Not only does a product which began as an image in your mind or a concept on a board finally become real, but you finally get to see how those you designed it for feel about it. This second part can be daunting as we all fear negative feedback and criticism. Remember to take it positively and use this to return to the drawing board so you can come back with a better version.
Have you prototyped a product idea before, or are you starting to? What were (or are) your biggest challenges? Get in touch if you&#;ve got low-cost prototype tips you&#;d like to share or challenges you&#;d like some help with.
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