Low-Fidelity Prototyping with Design Thinking in Higher Education Management in Japan: Impact on the Utility and Usability of a Student Exchange Program Brochure

Abstract

A project using design thinking (DT) was conducted among internal stakeholders of a large state Japanese university to design a user-centric brochure promoting study abroad programs at francophone partner universities. The low-fidelity prototype and the final product created with DT were tested by asking potential student-users to compare it with a standard brochure through two sets of surveys. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that low-fidelity prototyping was effective to enhance both the utility and usability of the final product. We also show how DT helped expose cognitive biases among designers.

Keywords

• prototyping
• design thinking
• higher education institution
• HEI management
• cognitive biases