Page 96 - The Design Thinking Playbook

EXPERT TIP

Quick ’n’ dirty prototyping

“Prototyping”—building an idea as a physical model—is another creativity technique. The diversity of
the provided material determines whether more ideas will emerge or not. The more odds and ends are
available, the better it is. A balloon that’s been discovered summons up the idea that something could be
flexible and stretchable; a piece of cord reminds a participant that the thing might be portable.

The rubber dog in the prototyping material box:
More or less by accident, Lilly threw a rubber toy dog into the prototyping box. When the
participants in the brainstorming session were tasked to translate their ideas into physical
models, one of them found the toy and was highly amused by it. He started to spin ideas:
“The dog could do this and that in the machine,” whereupon his team members joined in
and came up with more ideas. The team had a lot of fun with the dog, which enabled them
to break out of their habitual thought patterns and reflect upon things they had thought
little about up to now. Until the very end, the dog contributed materially to the successful
outcome. Since then, it has been an integral part of Lilly’s prototyping box that she brings
along to the workshops.

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