PROTOTYPE: ThE BASICS

A Prototype is about getting tangible with your ideas, which is a great way to work through the kinks and get to better solutions faster! The method involves producing an early, inexpensive, and scaled-down version of your idea in order to reveal any problems with the current design. Prototyping offers the opportunity to bring our ideas to life, test the practicability of the current design, and potentially investigate how a sample of users think and feel about the "product" (service, experience, whatever is the content of your idea). "OK, I rehearse a meeting or a conservation intervention at a small scale...Is this a prototype?" Not exactly! Prototypes help us guide our (various types of) users to the experience and get constructive feedback. It is not about rehearsing or improving our plans. "Oh I have done it so many times, I don't need to prototype anymore!". Well, if this is what you think, you will discover a totally new world of revelations when you prototype your idea and listen to the various audiences you address. Get ready for a wonderful journey! Build to think!

So what could be a prototype?

Anything, from a model or a mock of the object or space you want to create to a simulation of an interactive digital experience. You do not need a budget. Prototypes are made from cheap material in a limited amount of time. The more constraints you put, the more creative you will be in building your prototype. Remember, prototypes help you to "fail soon, fail cheap"! The first thing you have to do is create a storyboard with the basic scenes of the experience you offer to your users. Whether it is an application to count the ecological footprint of food or the Living Planet Report as a tool for decision-makers, you have to visualise the whole experience and define the basic scenes: The beginning of your story, the middle, and the end.

THE STEPS FOR PROTOTYPING

The three basic steps of prototyping are: (1) Build, (2) Share, (3) Reflect. In the first stage, you build your prototype. You can just use the storyboard you created, or... you get muddy! You can use materials and build your model, mock-up, whatever serves your purpose - which is to guide your potential users to the experience your idea offers to them. In the second phase, you share your prototype with a group of people who are your potential users. You will guide them to your story, using the 3 dimension objects you created, your mock-ups, or just your storyboard, and you will listen to their comments. Watch for their body language! Sometimes it is more explicit than their words! Don't try to sell your idea. Walk them through the experience, let them interact with your objects, or imagine they are the heroes of your story, and listen to their feedback. It's OK if you get negative comments. You failed soon, fast and cheap! In the third phase, you reflect upon the feedback you got. No need to focus on every detail. Focus on the most important ones, the ones that will help you improve your idea.

The Why, When, How and Who?

In summary:

STEP 1: BUILD AND DOCUMENT

Grab whatever arts and crafts supplies you have handy and take one full hour to build a rough prototype. Don't worry about making it perfect. Just make something...anything! Remember, you're in the early stages of prototyping, where rough is right.

Document your prototype building process and final creation. You can share your prototype as a comic strip, storyboard, or advertisement. Or, it can be a simple sketch or photo of what you made.

STEP 2: SHARE

Share your prototype with one to three people: If you have the time and ability, test your prototype with your users. If not, use friends, colleagues, family members, or your peers in the course (try asking those in your Learning Circle).

CONSIDER: What do you want to learn with your prototype?

STEP 3: REFLECT

Reflect on what you learned through this process and capture highlights from your feedback sessions. What did you learn about your idea, your user, and the problem? How will the feedback you received inform your next steps?

Final tip

Setting up the sharing experience and asking the right questions is critical to collecting meaningful feedback. The point of a prototype is to spur rich conversation and unearth new insight about the need, challenge, or audience. Resist the urge to over-explain, or to sell, your idea. Ask them to walk you through their thinking, ask open-ended questions, and invite them into a conversation about what other solutions might look like or ways to improve your idea.

TOOLs: Prototype

STORY BOARDS AND MOCKUPs

PROTOTYING GUIDE, BY PANDA LABS

STORYBOARD TEMPLATE

MASH-UP METHOD

CLUSTERING

PRIORIZATION MATRIX

Resources for busy pandas

3 Prototyping Exercises to Get Unstuck by IDEO

Hungry for more prototyping activities to get your team to start bringing their ideas to life? Try these three exercises to help the team get unstuck and unlock new ideas.

Prototypes as (Design)
Tools

Check out this article that explores the relationship between prototyping and behavioral change. Some IDEOers co-wrote it (one of whom taught our course Insights for Innovation), so you'll see some similarities in how they discuss the theory behind prototyping.

How to Build a Prototype in One Hour

Check out this excerpt from David and Tom Kelley's Creative Confidence on prototypes, failing early and cheaply, and thinking on your toes.

Strategies for Learning from Failure

Why is learning from failure even more important than learning from success? In this article from Harvard Business Review, you will explore this question and other strategies for embracing failure.