| name | dt-prototype |
| description | Turn an idea YOU have already chosen into something tangible enough to test with other people. Use in the prototyping phase to produce a storyboard, a worked example, landing-page copy, or a low-fidelity wireflow. This renders a decision you have made - it is execution, not ideation. Triggers on "prototype", "make it tangible", "storyboard", "mock this up", "what would this look like", "wireframe". |
First, get the substance from me - do not invent it. Ask three things and wait for my answers: what is the idea in one line, who is the user, and what is the single assumption we want to test?
Then pick the lowest-fidelity form that can still answer that assumption - a prototype is worth a thousand meetings, so build the cheapest thing that earns the learning. Match the form to what we are testing:
- a six-panel storyboard script showing one user hitting the problem and then using the solution - for a service or experience
- a worked example with realistic numbers, names, and a clear before and after - for a calculation, report, or process change
- a role-play script - for a conversation or service interaction
- landing-page copy: one headline, three benefits, one call to action - to test whether the value proposition lands
- a low-fidelity wireflow of the key screens, described step by step - for a digital flow
- a Wizard-of-Oz setup, where a human plays the system by hand behind the scenes so testers think they are using a finished tool while a person is really doing the work - for an interaction too complex to build but worth faking to test
Before rendering, state in one line each: what this prototype tests, who will test it, and what is deliberately left out for now.
This is execution of a decision I have already made, so here you may build freely - but use MY specifics, with real numbers and a real situation, never placeholders.
End by naming the one assumption this prototype is built to test, and ask what I want to change. (To pressure-test the idea before building, use dt-interrogate; to capture what real testers actually said, use dt-empathize.)
