Great article and overview of the contrasting product development methods. Colin, I like how you called out a reminder as well to remember the product development fundamentals and importance of knowing the problem space. In addition, I'd add, understanding the feasibility of the proposed AI prototype. Is it rooted in reality of what could be done in production later on?
100%! I wonder how we could better integrate these prototypes into that flow? I ask that rhetorically as it’s definitely a challenge I think for people to consider into the future.
Nice one Colin, and I agree with you that prototyping with AI shortens the cycle significantly. However, the point that isn't too clear is about letting the users play with the prototype. If it's not connected to the backend, and if it still doesn't give proper results (because it's pre-engineering implementation) - what type of feedback is expected from users other than about the flow? They can't refer to the quality of the results without real data running in the back...
Hey Davida! One of the cool things you can do is mock backend data within your prototype. AI makes this really easy -- you just ask for mock data and it will write it for you.
You can make something that looks and behaves almost identically to your production product.
Yes, but that's not what I meant:) I've built prototypes with mock data. It works great as a demo. But it's not something I'll give a customer to try by themselves, because once they insert their own specific requests - the mock data becomes irrelevant. It's only good for a demonstrated example with pre-expected results.
Looks sleek. I believe it's helpful - and definitely provides customers a better experience than a static mockup. Yet there are cases in which customers would like to test a feature with their own data (like a sandbox) - those tools aren't there yet. But indeed great progress!
Great article and overview of the contrasting product development methods. Colin, I like how you called out a reminder as well to remember the product development fundamentals and importance of knowing the problem space. In addition, I'd add, understanding the feasibility of the proposed AI prototype. Is it rooted in reality of what could be done in production later on?
Great point Mark! Always a good idea to have product, eng, and design in the loop to make sure we can actually deliver on solutions.
100%! I wonder how we could better integrate these prototypes into that flow? I ask that rhetorically as it’s definitely a challenge I think for people to consider into the future.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! What are some tools you’d recommend for AI prototyping? What has been your experience with each one?
I wrote a little on each tool here!
https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-guide-to-ai-prototyping-for-product
Nice one Colin, and I agree with you that prototyping with AI shortens the cycle significantly. However, the point that isn't too clear is about letting the users play with the prototype. If it's not connected to the backend, and if it still doesn't give proper results (because it's pre-engineering implementation) - what type of feedback is expected from users other than about the flow? They can't refer to the quality of the results without real data running in the back...
Hey Davida! One of the cool things you can do is mock backend data within your prototype. AI makes this really easy -- you just ask for mock data and it will write it for you.
You can make something that looks and behaves almost identically to your production product.
Yes, but that's not what I meant:) I've built prototypes with mock data. It works great as a demo. But it's not something I'll give a customer to try by themselves, because once they insert their own specific requests - the mock data becomes irrelevant. It's only good for a demonstrated example with pre-expected results.
Ah gotcha -- we could mean different things. I made a quick example to illustrate what I mean here: https://spiffy-sorbet-5f3171.netlify.app/
I built this in ~20 mins. I'd use this to test different ideas with customers (could we add a text-to-chart feature? would it be useful?)
May not change your opinion but hopefully it helps clarify what I meant!
Looks sleek. I believe it's helpful - and definitely provides customers a better experience than a static mockup. Yet there are cases in which customers would like to test a feature with their own data (like a sandbox) - those tools aren't there yet. But indeed great progress!