Use prototyping to test ideas and assumptions

Prototyping enables low risk experimentation with different ideas. You do not have to prototype a whole service, policy, or process. Start simple and build from there. It does not have to be perfect, just make sure you’re testing with the people who interact with the service, policy or process.

“A prototype is nothing other than a single question, embodied. The goal of prototyping is to get an answer and move things forward.” Diego Rodriguez IDEO

Test ideas before committing to changes to ensure the final product meets users’ needs.

Start by identifying a possible solution to a problem. Get feedback from users and use it to make improvements. Repeat the process until you know your solution will deliver value to your service users.

Benefits of prototyping

• Reduce risks and costs – prototyping allows you to identify potential issues early to avoid costly errors and rework later. You learn from failures before you’re committed to something bigger and more difficult to change.
• Generate new ideas – prototyping supports an iterative development process, the exploration of new technologies, designs, and functionalities. Continuous feedback enables flexibility and adaptation to meet service users needs.
• Making a case to stakeholders – prototypes provide a tangible way to show concepts to your main stakeholders. Visual aids help stakeholders understand the potential impact, increasing the likelihood of gaining their support.

Use these points to discuss the value of prototyping with decision makers in your council.

When to prototype

You can use prototypes to learn if a possible solution works for users. This could be when you’re exploring a problem through to the final development of a service or product. You can apply prototyping also as an approach for how your council delivers change.

Start when:

• you have a hypothesis to test​
• ideas are hard to communicate​
• you’re struggling to get actionable and unbiased feedback​

How you can prototype

There are different types of prototypes to fit every need. You do not always need a team of designers to create prototypes. There are cost effective ways to test your ideas before you commit to an approach.

Types of prototypes include:

• Flows – a way to show the different parts of users’ journeys
• Sketches – a rapid way to involve people in the designing process
• Storyboarding – a creative way of showing the end-to-end experience
• Paper and origami prototyping – a way to run quick usability tests
• Enactments and theatre – to test more abstract ideas
• Digital and functional systems – for example, the GOV.UK prototype kit or Figma

Consider doing some guerilla testing to get feedback on your low fidelity prototypes.

What you can do next

When you are ready, share any learnings within your council. Consider ways you can showcase the benefits of doing it this way. This could be a blog, a learning session or a show and tell. It will help foster a culture of innovation through experimentation.

You can help other councils to solve similar problems. Share your prototypes so they can reuse and adapt them. This could be by sharing a sketch template, providing a white-label version of your click-through prototype or adding your prototypes on GitHub.

Other councils’ work

Using prototyping to test ideas: Rushmoor Council’s taxi licensing management process