Make your dream real by creating an innovation prototype

- Up until this point, the work we've done in diagnose and dream have been thinking exercises. Prototype is where your ideas move from concept into reality. Prototype is putting form to an idea. Your first prototype will never be your last. That's why it's a prototype. When you start out, there are many things you won't know, and that's completely okay. The point of prototyping is to learn, to validate the things you know, to uncover the things you don't, and to refine your prototype so that it can get to implementation. Here's how you start. First, determine the fidelity for your prototype. There's two kinds of fidelity, low and high. Low-fidelity prototypes have the following characteristics. First, they're inexpensive. These prototypes utilize cheap, inexpensive materials. These are things around your house, like paper or cardboard, construction paper. Second, they're low-detail. These prototypes are simple in both form and detail. The concepts are high-level, so you're not going to have all the nitty-gritty determined. Third, they're quick to create. These prototypes are much quicker to build because they are not sophisticated or highly engineered in their designs. Low-fidelity prototypes can go way further than you think. So before you consider high-fidelity, try to start with low. Do you remember my problem from the diagnose module? My garage door wouldn't close on sunny days, so I created a low-fidelity prototype to solve the problem. I used my toilet paper roll and a zip tie, and that helped address the issue. It was inexpensive, low-detail, and quick to create. Now let's talk about high-fidelity prototypes. High-fidelity prototypes have the following characteristics. First, they're expensive. These prototypes utilize more expensive materials, things like metal or wood. Second, they're high-detail. These prototypes are closer to the final version. There's a lot more detail in them. And third, they're slow to create. These prototypes are slower to build because it's near the final version. A high-fidelity prototype of my garage solution could have been a welded, rounded metal tube with a chrome finish and bolts to attach it to the garage frame. Low-fidelity goes further than you think, so if you can, start with low. Right now, I want you to think about your idea from dream. What type of fidelity would best suit your project? The next item you want to consider is the kind of prototype you should make. Most people think about prototypes as physical objects or widgets. This is just one kind of prototype, but there's many more kinds out there. Sketches, storyboards, wireframes, digital or 3D mockups, environmental, service, and even video prototypes. Now, I won't be covering how to create these kinds in this course, but I want you to be aware that there are many ways to put form to your ideas, and the simplest kind is sketching. A simple drawing on a napkin or several drawings on different napkins can be a prototype of your idea. What kind of prototype would help you best put form to your idea? Now, the final thing to do is go and make your prototype. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so enjoy the process and see what you can create. Let your imagination and creativity run freely as you do this. Creating a prototype will take some time, so let's move on to the next stage of the innovation process, test.