Entrepreneurship and Small Business (ESB) Certification Practice Exam

During which design thinking stage are multiple inexpensive product versions created?

1. Empathize

2. Define

3. Prototype

4. Test

The correct answer is: Prototype

The stage where multiple inexpensive product versions are created is the Prototype stage. At this point in the design thinking process, the focus shifts to developing low-fidelity representations of ideas that can be explored and tested. Prototyping allows entrepreneurs and designers to visualize concepts and functionality, experiment with them, and gather feedback without committing significant resources to a final product. Creating multiple prototypes encourages creativity and innovation, as different ideas can be tested in various forms. This approach also helps identify which features work best and which might need rethinking, enabling an iterative process of improvement based on user insights. The goal is to learn quickly about what resonates with users and refine the product before any high-cost investments are made. In other stages such as Empathize, the focus is on understanding user needs, while the Define stage is about clearly articulating the problem to be solved. The Test stage involves gathering user feedback on the developed prototypes but does not primarily focus on creating new versions of the product. Thus, the Prototype stage is crucial for transforming ideas into tangible forms that can be assessed and developed further.