How To Get An Idea Made Into a Prototype: A Step-by-Step Guide from Lean Start Lab
Think you have what it takes to make the next great app? Well, hold up, not so fast.
To the uninitiated, building good software products is as simple as paying a couple of “code wizs” six-figure salaries and they will automatically work their magic… BAAM! Top spot on the app store.
However, in reality, things are not that clear-cut. Even the best, most technically impressive app will fail if it does not solve a real problem that many people can identify with. Before building out a whole product or even half a product (like an MVP), you have to prototype!
With a prototype, you can communicate your idea to potential stakeholders (e.g. co-founders, investors, early adopters, etc.) and build traction more efficiently. Without it, your idea has no pull; it has no legs. And truth be told, a product idea is cheap, a dime a dozen. Everyone and their mother has at least a dozen product ideas that will never see the light of day.
What makes your idea stand out is the tangible results of materializing and proving your concept, even from as early on as the prototype development stage. As product designers and developers, we have to be very conscious about the positioning of the product, where it stands in the market, what it does, who it’s intended for, and its potential for growth. This is where rapid prototyping comes in.
Rapid prototyping helps you better design your product for its intended users through consistent feedback and iteration, and at a fraction of the cost of a typical MVP. This process saves you a lot of time and money in the long run and helps you decide whether or not to further pursue your idea or go back to the drawing board.
At Lean Start Lab, our goal is to help founders de-risk their startups by building prototypes and launching their products on a small scale. Our company firmly believes in the “fake it until you make it” philosophy of product design. In our opinions, here is what the ideal approach to prototype creation would look like:
How to Get an App Idea Made Into a Prototype
List Out the Key Benefits and Features of the Product
No one knows your idea more than you. But before you get too excited and overcommit, start by listing out your app’s use cases and key features. This is the first step to ensure that you won’t miss anything crucial once you start bringing on people to build out the idea.
In the years of operating our company, we typically encounter the following types of clients:
- The experienced clients who have a clear but rigid goal for their business and how to prototype, not willing to be flexible or compromise when necessary.
- The inexperienced clients who are head over heels with their product solution but they have no idea how to build a business around it.
While that is just one of the inherent challenges of what we do, fortunately, we also get clients who are the best of both worlds. They come in with a clear idea of what they want, yet they let us brainstorm and make suggestions to help them improve. Rest assured, our designers love to flex their creative muscles so feel free to challenge them 😉
When we brainstorm with clients, we always consider these 3 factors which make up the bigger picture:
- the existing competitors
- the general state of the industry
- what users expect from the app
From there, we can come up with a shortlist of critical features for your app. For instance, if the app is geared towards older generations, a simple, intuitive UX/UI design is preferred. Having too many tabs, buttons, and functions will only confuse those users, which creates unnecessary friction as a result.
Create a Wireframe
Sometimes called a schema, a wireframe is a 2D skeletal outline of a web page or an app. It provides a clear visual representation of the idea, page structure, elements, layout, user flow, information architecture, and functionality. In essence, it shows you where everything goes and how they work.
Wireframes can be sketched by hand or digitally created with a design tool (our go-to is Figma). You don’t need to have everything figured out when making your wireframe, especially early on in the process, sometimes just the initial product concept and roadmap will suffice. You can add the rest of the components, such as content, styling, graphics, and color as you further refine your prototype.
Creating a wireframe saves everyone a lot of time. You figure out the layout and design idea first so that your developers only have to focus on what they do best later on, which is writing code. A wireframe also ensures that both parties, the designer and the client, are on the same page about the app. When a disagreement occurs, one can easily reference the wireframe as proof of what the other party had agreed to.
Overwhelmed by all the tech terminology? Read our blog on 15 Important Tech Terms for Non-Tech Entrepreneurs
Turn the Wireframe into a Clickable Prototype
Once the wireframe has been established, we can make the product idea come to life in the form of a clickable prototype. All screens will be linked together with different buttons and input fields to create a cohesive and logical flow for the client to explore. This level of interaction allows for better visualization of how the app would look and function.
The clickable prototype gives you a touch-feel experience of your app. It consolidates all the comments made in the previous step and is a way to make sure that those comments and ideas are properly communicated to your developers later on. If you are unhappy about a particular design element then you can still make changes at this point in the process. The sooner you communicate these inputs, the better we can help you build the exact app that you have envisioned.
Test the Clickable Prototype
As mentioned previously, we are big proponents of “fake it until you make it.” Now that you have a clickable prototype, it’s time to get in front of people: users, investors, startup judges, etc. (basically anyone who is willing to listen). Don’t be shy. While it is natural to want a complete product before showing it off to others, these steps are to safeguard you from investing heavily in a bad idea.
Remember: the point of prototyping is to gather as much feedback as possible before you even write a single line of code.
If people are engaged and willing to sign up for your product, perfect! We might have a winner on our hands. If you are met with significant resistance, or if the reception is lukewarm at best then maybe you should consider a pivot. For the best result, we can help you design a user test that will capture the most insights and create an actionable plan to follow up on what you’ve learned. Let’s jam!
To Develop or Not to Develop the MVP?
Depending on the result from the previous steps, there are 2 likely scenarios:
- The idea is a hit! Fantastic, let’s talk about getting the prototype made into an actual app in the form of an MVP for further testing. We can take the lessons we have learned from testing the prototype to further refine the idea and optimize our design process in the next iteration.
- The idea flops 😢 That’s okay! In fact, that’s normal for the first prototype. Be glad that you find out sooner rather than later. To get a prototype to an MVP-ready state takes hard work. Whether it’s one more attempt or several prototypes later, be prepared to switch up your approach. Maybe change the purpose of the app? The way the app is used? The way people share the app? The place that people use the app? The sky’s the limit!
If done right, the rapid prototyping stage demystifies the process of starting an app startup, turning it from something nebulous and out of reach into a straightforward design iteration process. It is a paradigm shift that places heavy emphasis on having a working prototype to test and further refine rather than getting bogged down by the technical aspects of app development. It challenges the notion that an app startup can only be validated as a fully-functioning product. Though speed is crucial, please keep in mind that extensive ideation, brainstorming, testing, and design iteration often require backtracking and pivoting so being patient when building out the prototype is recommended for the best result.
Ideally, you want your team to be with you every step of the way throughout the design iteration process and be just as committed to your success as you are. With Lean Start Lab, you can expect a more hands-on and collaborative experience that is unlike a run-of-the-mill agency. We want you to have something tangible, to start testing fast, to learn and iterate. We live and breathe startup. The Lean Methodology is our mantra, as it was the launchpad for our own startup journey. Armed with the hard-learned lessons from previous ventures, we are confident that Lean Start Lab has what it takes to make your app a success.
