What are good structures for a prototype?
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:
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:
- The painful status quo
- What people have already tried
- Your approach
- Your offer
- 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:
- Aware: How do people discover that the service exists?
- Join: What are the steps people take to get access to the service?
- Use & develop: how do people use the service and develop a relationship with it?
- 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
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