Prototype Testing Map

The Prototype Testing Plan gives a basic, but useful overview of the different ways in which you can test your work, as well as when to test it. You can build a prototype using various materials, or simply draw or act out your idea. The Prototype Testing Plan also helps structure the testing process. It is most efficient if you go through a structured series of steps. This way you can continually improve your work, while avoiding getting lost once the feedback you collect starts piling up. The worksheet indicates two periods when it is usually beneficial to test your idea: in the early stage of development, and in the later stages just before full implementation.

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Format TemplateTimeframe 3-4 hoursGroup Size 3-5Facilitation Level MediumRequired Materials Cardboard, paper, Scissors, blocks

Steps

  • Specify the main idea/hypothesis that you want to test.
  • Build a small model of your idea using any material you see around you such as cardboard paper, blocks etc. This is so you can see your idea in three dimensions and check whether it would work smoothly or has gaps.
  • Act out parts your idea when you meet with your target audience. Pretend that your idea is launched. How will they know of it and use it? Try out different possibilities to learn about alternative ways of doing things.
  • Draw the experience of finding out and using your work in the form of a story to see if you’ve missed any step.
  • Build a new model of your idea. Since you have developed your idea further, you should now have more details and element in it to test and check whether they all work in synchronisation.
  • Act out your idea again.
  • Again, draw the experience of using your work in more detail than before. Test out if all the steps in your story are working well together.
  • Make a list of all the things that you need to make your idea real. List things like activities, resources, people and materials that you need to make your idea realistic enough to implement.

Benefits

  • Challenging and prioritising assumptions.
  • De-risking product or service failure.
  • Prioritising the features to be tested.
  • Identifying areas of improvement.

Tips

  • It requires some prior dialogue with colleagues/peers. Plan for some time to interact and fill out in collaboration over a day maybe.
  • Use the worksheet as a basic guide to help plan your prototype tests. Always clearly specify the main idea you want to test out through your prototype. And make sure to note down any learnings on how to improve your work by reallocating activities, resources, people or materials.
  • Prototyping is often carried out in various stages of a process with the aim of either searching for new ideas or testing an existing idea to see whether it works and how to make it better. Prototypes can be made as often as possible. The key is to keep it easy and cheap to build them, focusing more on the core offering rather than smooth finishing. Feel free to use what is easily available around you as long as it helps you try out your idea rather than just talking or thinking about it.
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