Prototype Evaluator
“From cardboard and duct tape to ABS polycarbonate,it took 5,127 prototypes and 15 years to get it
[cyclone technology] right.”
Sir James Dyson
EXTRACT
it took 5,127 prototypes and 15 years to get it
[cyclone technology] right.”
Sir James Dyson
it took 5,127 prototypes and 15 years to get it
[cyclone technology] right.”
Sir James Dyson
Role of this tool
With this tool we objectively review the learnings from prototyping an innovation and to record a decision to stop it, carry on or reinvent it.
How do we use it?
Moving beyond prototypes is the next phase of innovation development and is likely to involve significant investment of time and money so agreement here is important. Stopping an innovation at this point can be very valuable as it frees up resources to focus on a better bet. This tool can also form a useful springboard to go back to the brief and try a different approach. In the commercial world up to 90% of innovations fail; it is firms that pick the winners that succeed. It is a good idea to use this card as the basis for a discussion with other team members and leaders so you can reach a consensual decision.
1. What idea did we prototype?
Write in here a brief description or title of our idea. Perhaps we have given the idea a ‘catchy title’ in Idea Frame in which case we copy it here.
2. What are we going to change?
Each prototyping session will result in a host of findings and learnings. What unexpected things happened? What features and elements were missing from our innovation? Record the changes that we recommend here.
3. What remains the same?
What were the most successful elements of our prototype? We make a decision about which elements to keep and record them here.
4. Mark the Stop/Go/Reinvent box
This is where we record our next steps. If many elements of our prototype need to change maybe we have to stop. Perhaps in the light of this new understanding, other ideas that we discounted earlier might look more attractive. Reinvention is an important principle of iterative prototyping so we circle the R if we intend to revisit the prototype at a later date.
Source: Murray Sim
Tool
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Worked Example
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