Drafting or prototyping is one of the later stages of the design process. Our approach and mindset have the potential to influence anything we create.
The key to success: share your ideas early and often.
Minimum Verbal Prototype
One of the simplest prototypes you can create is to describe your idea to someone else.
- What if we
- Why don’t we
- Imagine that we
Your Minimum Verbal Prototype or MVP is a more rounded description of your idea — not just one of many ideas on a list. Your verbal outline creates the first impression and helps someone understand your initial intent.
The MVP is the kick to begin representing your idea in a more tangible way.
The Word prototype is from Greek prōtotypon “a first or primitive form,” from prōtos “first” + typos ‘impression, mould, pattern.”
Prototyping is not the goal. Feedback is.
A different way to approach prototyping is:
To engineer as many opportunities for feedback as you can.
Feedback is the main reason we share drafts. Rough and ready versions give us the chance to test and think about what works and what doesn’t.
And to truly understand how bad our ideas are.
Feedback is oxygen for your ideas.
When you share a First Verbal Prototype, you activate a feedback loop to develop your creative ideas.
Remember, the only thing worse than a bad idea is to isolate an idea from feedback for too long.
Feedback is oxygen for your ideas. It will help them grow and get stronger, starved of it, and your ideas weaken.
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