¶ … Prototyping? The development of the prototyping methodology

The Benefits of using Prototyping today

The evolution of Rapid Prototyping

The creation and development of three banking websites using prototypes

Prototyping for banking related GUI

sing mobile phones for banking

Asia-Pacific Summit

Banking systems using ATMs and ADCs

Prototyping in the Banking Field

What is Prototyping?

The Web defines prototyping as the term that is used to describe the process by which physical mock ups or models are made up out of the proposed designs. In the days before the wide usage of the computer aided technology, prototyping was done using traditional models. Today however, prototyping is done using three dimensional computer models. This method is definitely more efficient as well as quicker than the traditional methods. The computer-aided prototyping is also referred to as 'Rapid Prototyping'. (Fundamentals of Graphics Communication, 3/e) Sometimes, certain partial aspects of the program are created using this method, and this helps the user to understand the problems or virtues of the program before it is implemented anywhere. Users are offered a chance to find out and correct the mistakes if any in the program by the prototype that has been created. (Chapter 14 - Programming and Languages) One of the most complex problems being faced by the businesses of today, including that of Banking, is the re-designing and the integration of the existing business processes that have been in use up until now.

The development of the prototyping methodology:

One of the most useful methodologies that these businesses are finding extremely useful and practical is the method of re-designing a business process design named 'Business Process Re-engineering Methodology' that explains in great detail how the existing design can be changed and re-modeled to suit the newer business processes and therefore the newer requirements. This new design is referred to as the 'Product-Based Development Design', and the innate strength of this method lies in the fact that the method of 'prototyping' is used extensively throughout the procedures described. Prototyping is mooted as the method by which the end-user can use his inputs for the purpose of authenticating and validating the process designs described. It is a fact that all over the world, all the various businesses are being either fine-tuned or re-designed or re-engineered or value added or right sized or re-aligned, in the name of Business Process Re-engineering or what is also known as 'BPR' to dramatically improve the existing business. From the time of the creation of the BPR, when it was solely used for improving and optimizing all the various business processes within one single organization, to a wider usage wherein various business processes across several different enterprises are re-designed using the methods prescribed by the BPR.

A BPR generally tackles a two-fold challenge: a technical challenge, which is in other words the problem of developing a new process design that would improve in a dramatic way the existing process design, and the second challenge being that of the socio cultural changes that are an inevitable result of the severe organizational changes that may cause the persons involved in the organization to react bitterly towards the changes. The focusing on the socio cultural changes to be brought about and the management of the project is seen as important in the BPR method rather than the method of trying to introduce technical changes. Another area of focus in the BPR method is the utilization of the anecdotal and descriptive points-of-view, rather than the prescriptive and quantitative view generally used by other methods of re-designing. The basic idea of creating a method that would solve technical problems in the technical BPR challenge is the Product-Based Development Design, a method whose innate strength lies in using prototyping. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

The Benefits of using Prototyping today:

Prototyping is the method that has been used for many years, probably from the early eighties onwards, as the method by which problems if any can be disposed of or 'flushed away', and user acceptance in the field of information systems development can be made very real and possible. From that time onwards, prototyping has been accepted as the one good method to be used in all fields of the development of interactive systems. One example where prototyping has been used successfully to improve the business is when it was used...

What are the benefits of using the method of prototyping to develop and support the various business processes of today? These benefits can be seen as being two-fold. Primarily, the first steps or the 'process steps' as they are known, that describe the initial steps that are taken in the development of a new business process, are taken by a human being who is completely thorough and familiar with all the information technology that is required by him in order to fulfill the various steps involved in the process, or these steps are fully automated with absolutely no human interference, thereby minimizing the chances for the creation of any mistakes whatsoever.
One example of the benefits of the usage of this process is demonstrated by the BPR process inculcated in a Dutch Social Insurance Company, wherein the first eighteen steps of the required twenty-four steps needed to carry out the initial processes of the new design were completely automated. The different specifications for the purpose of the execution of the steps must be taken from the various objectives prescribed in the process steps that they are to support; otherwise, the entire system would be termed as less-than-adequate. This is where the importance of developing and utilizing a prototyping design is seen clearly. Design processes would be protected by the elimination of design errors or insufficiencies, if any, and the subsequent efforts in design development would become more efficient and quick. Another reason for the development and usage of a prototype in a BPR process is that when end users are confronted with the basic design even before the design has actually been implemented; the opinion of the end user can be obtained without further expenses. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

When seen in the context of 'change management', this is very important since it not only saves costs but also demonstrates the viability of the design being created and developed. The end user therefore has the opportunity to actually use the design, and they are requested to give their feedback, and this helps the organization to see the pros and cons of the design before vast amounts of funds are used in its implementation, after which it may not be of nay great benefit; it may even fail miserably. When the end user uses the design, the company knows the value of the design and then the management can either go ahead with the necessary changes if any inculcated within the design, or shelve the design. The end user, however, has to be made aware of the fact that though the new process design is different from the design that they have been using all the time before the development of the new one, the purpose behind both remains the same, that is, the purpose of delivering the very same products as it was doing earlier. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

Therefore it can be stated that when PBD or Product-Based Development is used for the purpose of developing and implementing changes using the system of prototyping, the system of PBD is in itself the translation or changing of an innate manufacturing idea to be adaptable to the world of administrative processes such as banking, government, and insurance and so on. For example, when the design of an informational product like a mortgaging loan or an insurance permit needs to be changed and modified, its basic structure is decomposed and dismantled into a number of informational elements, which are in turn used to arrive at a process design. The actual information elements of a product may be inherently related to each other in different ways. For example, when a consumer loan is considered, the primary fact to be considered is whether the loan can be granted to the applicant, and if so, the amount of the loan, and the other conditions of granting a loan to an individual must also be evaluated.

Therefore, when the granting decision is taken as being one of the elements of the administrative process, then the reason for the application of the loan, as well as the credentials of the applicant must be taken into consideration. This information will be used to determine the value of the granting decision of the loan. PDB in this instance prescribes the application of essential logic to the representation of the facts of the case. Therefore it can be said that the inter-dependencies between all the involved elements and the logic are determine the various specifications of the product that is involved. This method can be used very successfully in the Banking Sector, wherein small pockets of initial logical information can be decomposed n a manner that would aid…