The Power of Prototyping

Yesterday in the agency we had our first Hackathon. And it was great. People from all departments created and remixed for 30 minutes then presented some rather cool ideas (much of which have hence been copyrighted so they can cash in on their millions). It reminded me of this post I wrote on the Knot Collective a while ago about the power of rapid prototyping. I still believe that an agency culture that promotes rapid idea generation and iterative execution is a culture that will see it's creative output blossom. Have a read, and let me know your thoughts:

A prototype in it’s most basic form is the difference between thinking and making. In advertising terms it’s the initial scrawled drawing of a print ad, or the TV idea scribbled on the back of a napkin. It’s turning an idea from an abstract thought into a physical reality. A well executed prototype can be the difference between a great idea, campaign or product, and a bad one.

In this video, Firefox lead creative Aza Raskin discusses and demonstrates the power of prototyping for creative software development. I’ve referenced a lot of his principles in this post because they are creatively universal and very easily applied to advertising.

WHY SHOULD WE PROTOTYPE?

It’s simple really: an idea means nothing if you haven’t executed it.

This is what Scott Belsky’s excellent book Making Ideas Happen is based on. If you have an idea, that’s great, lots of people have ideas. The difference between you and everyone else is whether you execute that idea.

Prototying is the first stage of execution.

It provides you with the immediate internal and external feedback your idea needs to grow. Think about it: how many times have you woken up with THE GREATEST IDEA EVER KNOWN TO MAN!!, then attempted to explain it to your girlfriend or boyfriend only to discover they have no idea what you’re talking about and frankly neither do you? A well executed prototype allows people to see your idea the way you want them to see it.

A prototype isn’t the finished article.

If you present your client with a fait accompli at the very first meeting they’re not going to be impressed, they’re going to feel left out. By presenting a work in progress the client recognises you’ve done a lot of the initial thinking, but crucially, they feel like the idea won’t be complete without their input. If you present your idea correctly you’ll inspire people to contribute and take part in a positive way.

HOW CAN WE PROTOTYPE?

Talk about your idea.

Talking about your idea in its early stages will help you optimise it quickly and prevent you from going too far down the wrong track.

For us advertising folk it’s discussing your idea with your teammate. It’s meeting one of your colleagues from client service in the kitchen and talking to them about it. It’s sticking your sketch up on a noticeboard or in the corridor and inviting people to comment. As creatives we need to welcome and enjoy talking about the idea in its initial stages. The more opinions you get early on, the quicker your idea becomes great.

Accept that you’re always wrong the first time.

No one is good enough that they get it right the first time. Pushing ego aside and admitting that your first idea is not the absolute solution allows you to embrace other peoples opinions. If you believe that the first draft of your TV script is comparable in greatness only to the works of W. B Yeats, than you’re in for a big ego-bruising when you present it to your CD. Factor this stage into your workflow and you’ll allow other people’s opinions to positively influence your idea.

Move fast.

I saw Mike Schroepfer, the Vice President of Engineering at facebook, speak at the Science Gallery in Dublin as part of the Innovation Dublin Festival. When he discussed how they fostered innovative ideas within facebook, he described the need to prototype rapidly. One of the ways this is achieved is with the infamous facebook hackathon:

“Hackathon is a chance to work on the ideas we have been thinking about for last couple of months, to change the,’That would be hot!’ sentiment to something real and live on the site. The objective is to create something interesting by the end of the night that you can get feedback on from your peers and coworkers.”

Forcing yourself to make a prototype of your idea in a day will allow you to concentrate on the things that matter, the broad strokes, and not to get bogged down in inconsequential details.

PRACTISING WHAT I PREACH

In the spirit of what I’ve discussed above, here is an idea I had after reading and discussing with Caprice, her “The Draper Cycle” Knot Collective post:

What if we applied the idea of the hackathon to an ad agency? For 24 hours creatives, client service, production, the receptionist, everyone, came together to turn their ideas into working prototypes that could ultimately help the agency, the agency’s clients, or a not for profit organisation? A burst of collective, rapid energy could produce more in one day than countless meetings over the space of months ever could.

But, what if we made it bigger than that? What if we gathered a diverse group of people virtually, in one space for 24 hours and aimed to have an idea and a working prototype by the end of the day? As Caprice put it:

“What you’re suggesting is to allot a finite time to workaholism and turned it into a commodity and resource which can then be applied.”

Yes, that is what I’m suggesting. What do you think? Good idea or bad idea? Let’s get talking and doing.

This post is cross posted from The Knot Collective.