How do you involve and engage your team and clients in the prototyping process?

Prototyping is a crucial step in service design, as it allows you to test and refine your ideas with real users and stakeholders. But how do you involve and engage your team and clients in the prototyping process? In this article, you will learn some tips and methods to make prototyping more collaborative, effective, and fun.

1 Define the purpose

Before you start prototyping, you need to have a clear purpose and scope for your prototypes. What are you trying to learn, validate, or communicate? Who are you prototyping for and with? How will you measure the success of your prototypes????????????????????? Having a shared understanding of the goals and expectations of prototyping will help you align your team and clients, and avoid wasting time and resources on unnecessary or irrelevant prototypes.

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Monserrat Moreno García

Sr. Service Designer y Mentora de Diseño de Servicios
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Antes de crear prototipos, es crucial definir claramente su propósito y alcance. ¿Qué se busca aprender, validar o comunicar? ¿Quiénes son los destinatarios y colaboradores? ¿Cómo se medirá el éxito? Esta comprensión compartida alinea al equipo y a los clientes, evitando prototipos superfluos y optimizando recursos.

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2 Choose the right fidelity

Prototypes can vary in their level of fidelity, from low to high, depending on the purpose, audience, and stage of the project. Low-fidelity prototypes are quick and cheap to make, and can help you explore and generate many ideas, test assumptions, and get feedback. High-fidelity prototypes are more realistic and detailed, and can help you refine and polish your ideas, test functionality, and demonstrate value. Choosing the right fidelity for your prototypes will help you involve and engage your team and clients in the most appropriate and meaningful way.

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Hidde Burgmans

Managing Director at Koos | Certified B Corp
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The design sprint trend from a few years back greatly contributed to making prototyping and testing knowledge and mindset common. This significantly aids in setting things up. However, a common misconception is that UX design and digital design are ready for production after such a sprint. This is absolutely not the case. They are solely used to ensure you can test certain assumptions for prioritizing your product roadmap. I highly recommend ensuring that people understand this before beginning, as it helps alleviate a lot of frustration stemming from incorrect expectation management.

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Monserrat Moreno García

Sr. Service Designer y Mentora de Diseño de Servicios
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La elección de la fidelidad del prototipo es crucial. Los de baja fidelidad permiten explorar ideas y obtener retroalimentación rápida, mientras que los de alta fidelidad refinan y demuestran funcionalidades. Adaptar la fidelidad según el propósito y la audiencia garantiza un compromiso efectivo.

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Jane C.

Senior CX Lead | Founder | Behavior Economics Exec @Havard Business | Digital Experience | Service Design Lead | Digital Transformation
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We used paper prototypes during the design sprint when participants range from product and tech. Making sure everyone has at least 5 min to explain their idea and what inspired them to sketch. Post-design sprint, our own dedicated product designer will create the high-fidelity prototype in Figma for the top voted one.

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3 Co-create with users and stakeholders

Prototyping is not only a way to test your ideas, but also a way to involve and engage your users and stakeholders in the design process. Co-creating prototypes with them can help you gain insights, empathy, and buy-in, as well as uncover opportunities and challenges. You can co-create prototypes with your users and stakeholders by inviting them to workshops, interviews, or observations, where you can use methods such as sketching, storyboarding, role-playing, or bodystorming to prototype together.

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Marco Morales

Innovation + Digital Transformation Strategy • Product Management • Service Design • Creative Direction • MBA #genAI #VR #XR #Space tech #Architecture
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A double-diamond approach works well, to diverge into ideas first, then converge into specific ideas that rate highest based on criteria that is agreed upon by the group, then diverge into features (based on needs, challenges, etc) and finally organizing those features into a prioritized backlog where the prototype components will come from. This whole process can be done through meetings or design thinking workshops, using whiteboards (digital or physical), spreadsheets or drawings, to enable the capture of input. The designers (UX, UI, visual) should be involved every step of the way, for providing guidance and for a seamless handover from instructions to final prototype creation.

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Monserrat Moreno García

Sr. Service Designer y Mentora de Diseño de Servicios
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La co-creación de prototipos con usuarios y partes interesadas es esencial para el éxito del proceso de diseño. Al involucrarlos activamente, no solo se obtiene información valiosa, sino también empatía y aceptación. La co-creación puede realizarse a través de talleres, entrevistas u observaciones, utilizando métodos como bocetos o juegos de roles. Este enfoque promueve la participación y genera ideas innovadoras y centradas en el usuario.

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Jane C.

Senior CX Lead | Founder | Behavior Economics Exec @Havard Business | Digital Experience | Service Design Lead | Digital Transformation
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While participants share their prototype, facilitator can prompt them to find the common patterns and points i.e. convergence. In this way, everyone feel involved in the creation process. Alternatively, facilitator can summarize into a few key themes then translate them into the title/criteria of the digital screen. It will become the checklist for the further high-fidelity prototype.

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4 Iterate and learn

Prototyping is not a one-off activity, but a continuous cycle of making, testing, and learning. You should not get attached to your prototypes, but rather use them as tools to learn from your users and stakeholders, and improve your ideas. You should iterate your prototypes based on the feedback and data you collect, and share your learnings with your team and clients. Iterating and learning from your prototypes will help you involve and engage your team and clients in the evolution of your service design.

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Ali Zubairi

Staff Product Designer @ tcp | x IBM | Learner, Summiteer, Father
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Have stakeholders try out prototypes, you'll gain an understanding that can't be replaced. While they are busy with your craft, you can observe their experiences firsthand. Capture their raw reactions. Look for what resonates as well as areas for improvement.

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Monserrat Moreno García

Sr. Service Designer y Mentora de Diseño de Servicios
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La creación de prototipos es un ciclo continuo de creación, prueba y aprendizaje. No te apegues a tus prototipos; utilízalos como herramientas para aprender y mejorar. Itera en función de los comentarios y datos recopilados, y comparte aprendizajes con tu equipo y clientes. Esta práctica fomenta la participación y el compromiso en la evolución del diseño del servicio.

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Federico Francioni

Head of Digital Ecosystem @Meta | Previously Digital Strategist @Microsoft & @PwC
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Keep prototypes' introductions short! Minimizing prototype explanations prevents bias by focusing on core functionality with neutral language. Encourage open-ended exploration and limit guided tours to allow users to engage independently and provide unbiased feedback. The more you explain, the more your tester will become biased.

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5 Communicate and showcase

Prototyping is also a way to communicate and showcase your ideas to your team and clients, and to other audiences such as investors, partners, or media. You should communicate and showcase your prototypes in a clear and compelling way, highlighting the value proposition, the user needs, and the evidence of testing and learning. You can communicate and showcase your prototypes using methods such as storytelling, video, presentation, or exhibition. Communicating and showcasing your prototypes will help you involve and engage your team and clients in the impact of your service design.

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Monserrat Moreno García

Sr. Service Designer y Mentora de Diseño de Servicios
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La comunicación y exposición de prototipos son vitales para involucrar a tu equipo y clientes, así como a otros interesados. Destaca la propuesta de valor y la evidencia de aprendizaje de manera clara y convincente. Emplea métodos como narración de historias o presentaciones para comunicar tus ideas de manera efectiva. Esta práctica fortalece el compromiso con el diseño del servicio y maximiza su impacto.

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6 Have fun

Prototyping is not only a serious and rigorous process, but also a creative and playful one. You should have fun with prototyping, and encourage your team and clients to do the same. You can have fun with prototyping by using different materials, formats, and techniques, by experimenting and improvising, by celebrating failures and successes, and by creating a positive and supportive atmosphere. Having fun with prototyping will help you involve and engage your team and clients in the joy of service design.

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Monserrat Moreno García

Sr. Service Designer y Mentora de Diseño de Servicios
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La creación de prototipos es tanto un proceso serio como creativo. Animar a tu equipo y clientes a divertirse durante este proceso es clave. Experimenta con diferentes materiales y técnicas, celebra tanto los fracasos como los éxitos y crea un ambiente positivo y de apoyo. Esta actitud lúdica no solo fortalece el compromiso, sino que también fomenta la innovación y la colaboración en el diseño de servicios.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you involve and engage your team and clients in the prototyping process?

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1 Define the purpose

2 Choose the right fidelity

3 Co-create with users and stakeholders

4 Iterate and learn

5 Communicate and showcase

6 Have fun

7 Here’s what else to consider

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