Name the uncertainty
A new idea can be plausible, technically possible and still have an unanswered question at its centre: will people want to use it?
Teams can spend considerable effort designing how a solution should work before testing whether the proposed behaviour fits into someone’s life. By that point, the idea may already have a budget, a roadmap and a group of people invested in its success.
An earlier test starts by naming the uncertainty. It might concern interest in a service, willingness to take a particular step or the relevance of a proposed benefit. The clearer the question, the easier it is to choose a useful test.
Keep the first test deliberately small
Pretotyping explores the appeal or fit of an idea before building a more complete version. The test is shaped around the behaviour you need to understand, rather than the full functionality of the eventual solution.
Depending on the question, this might involve a simple service description, a facilitated walkthrough or a manually delivered version of one part of the experience. People should understand what they are being asked to try; a test does not need to create a misleading impression to be useful.
The point is to learn something specific with a proportionate commitment. A polished demonstration is not always the best way to do that.
Decide what you will learn before you begin
Agreeing the learning goal in advance helps a team interpret the result. Otherwise, almost any response can be made to sound encouraging after the fact.
- Which assumption is this test examining?
- What behaviour or feedback would challenge it?
- Who needs to participate for the learning to be relevant?
- What decision will the result inform?
The result may support further work, suggest a different approach or reveal that the need is elsewhere. Each can be a useful outcome if it changes a decision while change is still practical.
Then prototype the experience
Once the team has better evidence about the need, a prototype can explore how the experience should work. This is where questions of usability, information, interaction and delivery become more concrete.
The two forms of testing complement each other. One helps assess the appeal of the idea; the other helps shape the way it is delivered. Neither removes all uncertainty, but both can make the next investment more informed.
The discipline is simple: make the test fit the question, and make sure the answer has somewhere to go.