“If a picture is worth a thousand words, a prototype is worth a thousand meetings” — IDEO
It’s easy to talk about ideas, but it’s much harder to make them happen. This takes time, effort, sweat and tears. But there is a way to take the sting out of this transition. By exploring and experimenting with our ideas we expose the opportunity for creative collaboration, to fail cheaply, to understand what works and what doesn’t. This learning fuels our creative confidence and the creative engagement of our colleagues and customers.
The prototype is at the very core of our Design Thinking methodology. Before we discuss how it has been an invaluable technique at We Are Unstuck, let’s navigate the jargon.
Prototype: the first or preliminary output from which other forms are developed.
Iteration: the repetition of the process, typically as a means of getting closer to the desired goal.
So there we have it: a prototype is the very first output in a process of iteration — where we repeat a task or action to make continuous improvements. Most products that you know, love and use daily are the result of repeated prototyping, and are continually iterated to this day (did you think that the computer mouse always looked like that?).
As a company, we prototype our ideas all the time. It’s a great strategy for efficiently dealing with things that are hard to predict without making a large investment. Prototyping works to break down conflicting ideas and complex plans, forcing us to ask questions and make decisions. We have learnt to embrace the small setbacks that derive from prototypes, as we understand these fuel idea development by creating opportunities to communicate, explore and refine. This refinement comes about because you’re forced to bounce between being expansive (asking questions) and being reductive (making decisions). Don’t just take our word for it — experiments have shown that creating and sharing multiple designs leads to better and more divergent ideas (as well as improving group rapport).
So how does it work?
Prototyping can be as simple as sketching ideas out on paper, which is how we developed ideas for our website. Or getting unstuck with some pipe cleaners, string and crayons — an afternoon which helped us put together our Culture of Innovation cards.
By prototyping our newly released iOS app through Marvel we were able to solve problems and introduce features we hadn’t even considered. Prototyping enabled us to accelerate delivery — providing value to our customers sooner.
Whichever method of prototyping you choose, feedback from your end users is key. We use a tool called The Red Pen which prompts the following questions:
1) What do you love and why?
2) What would you change and why?
3) Are there any ideas, questions or ways to simplify this?
4) What the main three things that you have learnt?
Here are our three top tips from many years’ experience of prototyping.
1) It can be scary to share a prototype, especially if your audience is expecting a well-polished product. Begin internally to gain some confidence and later signal to your customers that this is an experiment.
2) Learn to prototype with a buddy — it’s easy to get lost or feel vulnerable.
3) Do as little as you can possibly get away with to get your first prototype out. That way you begin to learn from experience much earlier than normal.
Prototyping is about rolling up your sleeves, getting a little bit dirty, and taking small risks. Get in touch with We Are Unstuck to explore how prototyping might benefit your organisation.
