Abstract
Our results indicate that personal memory connections—rather than prototype fidelity per se—appear to be more strongly associated with stakeholders’ willingness to co-create with early-stage prototypes. Although prior work emphasizes prototype fidelity in relation to willingness to co-create, the cognitive interpretation process by which people make sense of prototypes remains a black box. We model interpretation as a memory-based mapping process: viewers (i) notice prototype cues, (ii) recall relevant experiences, (iii) map specific elements from those memories onto the cues (“mapped base nodes”), and (iv) update their mental image of the final product. A formative think-aloud study (n = 6) with a disaster-preparedness app surfaced this structure. A subsequent 40-participant study tested its behavioral implications: the number of mapped base nodes was moderately associated with co-creation willingness (r = .42, p < .01), whereas fidelity (low vs. high) showed no main effect; expertise and openness were smaller but significant correlates. Guided by this mechanism, we present a brief priming procedure that shows text or image cues before exposure, intended to activate relevant memories and increase mappings. A preliminary workshop with prototype designers indicated good comprehensibility and usability alongside concrete areas for refinement. Together, the findings reframe the role of fidelity—from an end in itself to a means of enabling memory mapping—and offer a low-cost, mechanism-informed strategy for deeper stakeholder involvement.
Keywords
Prototyping; Co-design; Co-creation; Priming method; Think-aloud protocol
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.32
Citation
Mitomi, K.,and Shirasaka, S.(2025) Memories Evoked by Prototypes: Proposal of a Priming-Based Method to Foster Co-Creation, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.32
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 6 - Co-creation
Memories Evoked by Prototypes: Proposal of a Priming-Based Method to Foster Co-Creation
Our results indicate that personal memory connections—rather than prototype fidelity per se—appear to be more strongly associated with stakeholders’ willingness to co-create with early-stage prototypes. Although prior work emphasizes prototype fidelity in relation to willingness to co-create, the cognitive interpretation process by which people make sense of prototypes remains a black box. We model interpretation as a memory-based mapping process: viewers (i) notice prototype cues, (ii) recall relevant experiences, (iii) map specific elements from those memories onto the cues (“mapped base nodes”), and (iv) update their mental image of the final product. A formative think-aloud study (n = 6) with a disaster-preparedness app surfaced this structure. A subsequent 40-participant study tested its behavioral implications: the number of mapped base nodes was moderately associated with co-creation willingness (r = .42, p < .01), whereas fidelity (low vs. high) showed no main effect; expertise and openness were smaller but significant correlates. Guided by this mechanism, we present a brief priming procedure that shows text or image cues before exposure, intended to activate relevant memories and increase mappings. A preliminary workshop with prototype designers indicated good comprehensibility and usability alongside concrete areas for refinement. Together, the findings reframe the role of fidelity—from an end in itself to a means of enabling memory mapping—and offer a low-cost, mechanism-informed strategy for deeper stakeholder involvement.