As always, there is A Lot here to unpack. Thank you for compiling and sharing. Some of my thoughts and observations FWIW --
I like the insight about asking questions over giving advice. Invitation and openness...
Focusing on rankings and comparisons is like always looking backwards... which is no healthy way to live.
Thinking about the prototyping approach and wondering about some dark sides. If iteration is the name of the game, what does that say about what is left behind, discarded, trashed -- literally and figuratively. Is iteration truly the sustainable approach we hope it is?
Delicate work to cross the streams of Prototyping and Relationships. People and Styrofoam don’t share too much in common.
Daniel, thanks for reading so thoughtfully and sharing your reflections.
I'm pondering your observation about the dark sides of the prototyping approach, especially with respect to sustainability and relationships. Indeed, we need to be aware of the way that the iterative approach might burn through capital, whether material or relational. But I also can't help but wonder if our comfort with the status quo is part of the equation here too. While there's a cost with iteration, there's also a cost (although it's often less readily visible) of staying put.
To "yes, and" your points, we need to be thoughtful about how we implement the prototyping mindset depending on the situation. In some areas, iteration might be cheap and without much impact. In other situations the impact might be more significant and I think there we need to be creative about finding ways to make the prototype less costly. But, one aspect of a good prototype is that it is low-cost and low-impact, so while we certainly could come up with prototypes which are very costly, it would be hard to say that those are good prototypes.
I guess this is just another way of saying that an effective prototyping mindset must be rooted in a broader design process including observation, empathy, problem definition, and ideation.
As always, there is A Lot here to unpack. Thank you for compiling and sharing. Some of my thoughts and observations FWIW --
I like the insight about asking questions over giving advice. Invitation and openness...
Focusing on rankings and comparisons is like always looking backwards... which is no healthy way to live.
Thinking about the prototyping approach and wondering about some dark sides. If iteration is the name of the game, what does that say about what is left behind, discarded, trashed -- literally and figuratively. Is iteration truly the sustainable approach we hope it is?
Delicate work to cross the streams of Prototyping and Relationships. People and Styrofoam don’t share too much in common.
Lots to keep thinking about...
(didn’t notice any typos; good work!)
Daniel, thanks for reading so thoughtfully and sharing your reflections.
I'm pondering your observation about the dark sides of the prototyping approach, especially with respect to sustainability and relationships. Indeed, we need to be aware of the way that the iterative approach might burn through capital, whether material or relational. But I also can't help but wonder if our comfort with the status quo is part of the equation here too. While there's a cost with iteration, there's also a cost (although it's often less readily visible) of staying put.
To "yes, and" your points, we need to be thoughtful about how we implement the prototyping mindset depending on the situation. In some areas, iteration might be cheap and without much impact. In other situations the impact might be more significant and I think there we need to be creative about finding ways to make the prototype less costly. But, one aspect of a good prototype is that it is low-cost and low-impact, so while we certainly could come up with prototypes which are very costly, it would be hard to say that those are good prototypes.
I guess this is just another way of saying that an effective prototyping mindset must be rooted in a broader design process including observation, empathy, problem definition, and ideation.
Thanks again for the thought-provoking comment!