prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product that is built to test a concept or a process.

The idea is to show the sample or model to potential users and then use their feedback to improve the product. If you are making a hardware product, like the robotic quarterback named The Seeker we introduced to you in Chapter 2, you may iterate on your prototype multiple times before you have a final design. One common phrase used to describe the process of iterative prototyping is “fail early and often.” That phrase does not refer to failure in the broad sense. It is more about the little things. It is a philosophy suggesting that developing a product involves running a lot of tests with potential customers.

Each test allows the entrepreneur to discard the part of the product that does not appeal to customers and build upon the parts of the product the customers did like. You will also learn things. For example, Monarc Sports, the startup behind a robotic quarterback, invariably learned many things by asking players and coaches to experiment with early versions and provide candid feedback.

As testing continues—which involves allowing potential customers to touch and experiment with your evolving prototype—the product becomes better and better. As you progress through the process, your prototype may evolve from a paper prototype to a plastic prototype to a metal prototype, and then to something that resembles the final design. Put in colorful language, Dave Lyons, an experienced product designer, said that the value of prototyping is to “shake the gremlins out of the design as fast as possible in different areas.”

The following example describes how the prototyping process normally works.....

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the advantages of showing rough prototypes to potential customers, such as those produced for Step 1 and Step 2, rather than showing them a welldeveloped prototype initially?
2. Make a list of the things the inventor of the new toaster might learn by completing the prototyping process.

3. For the prototyping process we describe in this feature, why was it necessary to go into the homes of the people who might use the device? Couldn’t the entrepreneur gain access to similar information in a lab?
4. Do some Internet research and learn about the “Lean Startup” approach. In what ways is prototyping an essential part of the approach?