Learn about what’s missing, not what’s there
There’s a very simple principle for prototyping: Learn about what’s missing, not what’s there.
The closer you are to the start of a design process, the more important it is to learn about what’s missing. Make your prototypes embarrassingly simple and scrappy if you need to. That’s okay. The more it breaks, the more you’ll learn.
Early research should be uncomfortable, you’re not trying to impress the people you’re testing designs with. If it feels uncomfortable then you’re definitely learning.
This is my blog where I’ve been writing for 20 years. You can follow all of my posts by subscribing to this RSS feed. You can also find me on Bluesky and LinkedIn.