There are three types of prototypes I use a lot when it comes to testing new service ideas:

Storyboard 

A storyboard is a great tool to summarise how a service can feel to the end user.

You can create a storyboard showing how your service idea helps someone fix a problem. Basically, you would:

• Set the scene: Explain who your user is, what problems he is facing, and how he discovers your service.

• Show the key moments of the service: 

• Highlight three essential moments where your service relieves the customer's pain points.

• Finish with emotions: Show how the service fixed the initial pain point and how it allows the user to live more fully.

Below you'll see an overview of a template that you can use to create a storyboard using this structure very quickly in miro.

Landing page 

A landing page is a great way to prototype and tests an idea, as for many services, people will first compare services based on a search they've done online.

I find that the Sales Copy Generator of Podia offers a good structure to help you create the base structure of a landing page.

This tool asks you a few questions in five steps and then generates a PDF of a landing page that you can use to create your own prototype.

Lately, I've used this generator to help create the texts and then I used Typedream to create a landing page using one of their free templates.

Another inspiration that can be used when it comes to creating the texts for a landing page is the messaging framework "The Five Lightbulbs".

In short, your landing page will show:

1. The painful status quo

2. What people have already tried

3. Your approach

4. Your offer

5. The new life people get

Service Blueprint

A Service Blueprint can be a great way to see all that it takes to build a new service and then test the idea for feasibility internally.

A basic structure you can use for your service blueprint is:

1. Aware: How do people discover that the service exists?

2. Join: What are the steps people take to get access to the service?

3. Use & develop: how do people use the service and develop a relationship with it?

4. Leave and re-join: What happens when people leave the service and when they want to come back?

I created a free course called Service Blueprint for lazy people that can help you to create such a blueprint quickly.

Service Blueprint resources

You can find more Service Blueprint resources here.

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