Prototyping 101 for Startups!

Early-stage entrepreneurs usually have an idea or two to change the world. But don’t know “how”.?But if you want to start executing and putting your plans into motion, let me tell you how to test these ideas with effective prototyping.

Wait, what’s prototyping, you may ask. It’s a representation of a design idea that may range from low to high fidelity.?

A high fidelity prototype is one closest to your idea of design and functionality. In short, it looks or feels—or both—of your final product.?

A low fidelity prototype can be as simple as a series of sketches that depict a flow screen of a software. At @SketchnoteCo, we used sketches in our design sprint, scanned and uploaded them for testing on @figmadesign

Jeff Hawkins, the inventor of the PalmPilot, famously started designing the device by carving out a block of wood. He used chopsticks as stylus.?

To get the feel, he carried the prototype for weeks. He pulled it from his pant pocket to schedule a meeting or to access information.?

Early in the development process, you may create a “looks like” or “works like” protos. On one hand, it can be super tricky to decide the level or degree of fidelity. On the other, it’s easier for users to envision the intended solutions when you build high fi protos.?

At my previous Medtech startup @DiabetoDevice, we started with low fidelity prototypes. But when we actually started testing them, we’d bring 3D high fidelity ones. We’d ask people with Type 1 diabetes to test their usability and interoperativeness with other medical devices. Like s

The high fidelity prototypes basically also make it easier for early engineers to envision the roadmap. It also makes the early feedback looping the internal team much smoother.

Having said that, these have a few cons too: Creating high fi prototypes takes insane amounts of patience and effort. And that’s a bit of a problem when low fi photos can do the job of yielding useful feedback.?

Minus proper guidance, reviewers focus excessively on design elements. This leads to frustrating, unfruitful experiences.?

In Diabeto’s case, users complained our hardware was only available in the color blue. With https://sketchnote.co, users spoke about our choice of fonts!?

Worse, when some reviewers saw the amount of effort that had gone into building the prototype, would be reluctant to criticize it. They thought they’d hurt our feelings!

Lastly, the early startup team can become emotionally attached to the prototype, and may become reluctant to abandon it. They’d thereby ignore negative feedback!?

Okay! Now that I’ve told you about low and hi fi prototypes, let’s dive into testing these, shall we??

No matter what prototype you choose, the main goal of testing should always be to check if your solution delivers value. This is irrespective of how pretty, attractive, or usable the proto is. Now, you may ask, how can I execute it.?

Simple: By asking relevant questions such as “What problems would this product solve?” “When could someone need this solution and why?” “What’s missing? What can be removed/omitted?”?

Remember, you’re not looking for design advice, but solutions. Don’t fall into the trap of asking leading questions for yes/no answers.?

Prototype testing is an iterative process. It’s to be repeated until a satisfactory dominant design emerges. Once this step is completed, you move onto MVP (Minimum Viable Product) testing.?

The main difference between an MVP and prototype testing is HOW it’s been tested!?

Unlike the prototype that’s tested face-to-face with users, MVP is a real-world test with your users. A good MVP should be the lowest fidelity possible that yields the max feedback, minus time waste!?

MVPs come in various types, but I think that’s a topic for another thread!?

Meanwhile, the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is to NOT conduct MVP tests at all! The second is not setting measurable metrics for the success of the tests.?

Another error is revising one’s assumptions too quickly, or too slow. Now this one’s tricky. Especially because it literally means to identify the false positives or negatives. Most early-stage deaths and the uglier ones, are a result of false positives. Good luck!

PS: This thread was inspired by my experience at @Sketchnote, ell as my—failed and successful—past startups.

A lot of the structured material was inspired by the book The Fail-Safe Entrepreneur by Tom Eisenmann.?

Oh and also, if you enjoy such threads, drop us a follow on https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/sketchnote for more!