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to have screened out non-runners using rough non-functional models at
a very early stage of the evaluation process than to have a close-to-
reality prototype which suddenly reveals a ‘fatal flaw’.

a prototype does not have to be fully
functional – it can be just a solid model to
demonstrate shape

There is nothing new about prototypes. Sir Christopher Wren built a
large-scale model of the innovative St Paul’s Cathedral which he had
designed to replace the medieval cathedral lost in the Great Fire of
London of 1666. The scale model allowed him to convince the various
project stakeholders, from King Charles II to the City financiers, none of
whom could interpret two-dimensional drawings, to approve his grand
design.

Effective prototyping delivers a number of benefits, from the
perspective both of designing the product or service and of selling it.

design benefits of prototyping Prototypes form an integral

part of the innovation process from the designer’s viewpoint.
Prototyping contributes to how the various elements of the product or
service actually work. We have shown in previous chapters how
extensive the prototype process can be: James Dyson created 5,127
versions of his Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner; Thomas Edison
prototyped over 1,600 materials to identify the correct lamp filament;
and Howard Head saw more than 40 different ski designs literally
destruction-tested before he found the winning formula. Focused
prototyping allows critical problems to be resolved one by one.

The very act of prototyping will encourage further discoveries,
precisely because prototyping requires you to challenge and explore
boundaries. As Thomas Edison once remarked: ‘The real measure of
success is the number of experiments that can be crowded into 24
hours.’

sales benefits of prototyping Individual language, culture

and personal preconception can often prevent a shared understanding
of what is being proposed. These communication problems are
exacerbated when the subject under discussion is highly innovative
and lacks a pre-existing frame of reference.