Summary

Prototyping is an essential part of good wearable design. It often helps to spark ideas, conversations, and ways of improving what we’ve made. This chapter explored different types of prototypes and how they can contribute to creating the iterations of our wearables to make them successful.

We looked at how we can make wearables usable, considering the placement and ease of use. Alongside that, we considered usability, the user’s ability, and learnability. There are memorability and environmental factors too. We learned about making our wearable function effectively to allow a wearer to achieve their goals, and also how the system needs to be acceptable and comfortable. The chapter finished with a look at materials. We learned about fabrics and that starting with a denim or felt type of fabric, because of its stability and durability, might be a good first choice. We also saw that although neoprene is very movable, it also makes for a great near-body system...