We often think of prototyping as the very first step
of trying to understand how somebody will interact
with a particular good you're creating.
So when you're thinking about starting something and developing
your particular business, don't necessarily
assume that prototyping means creating something very expensive.
You can prototype and simulate what an experience
would look like by taking a page out of what musical creators do.
Take any hit song that you hear on the radio.
Chances are, before everybody had gone to the recording studio and producers
and engineers and session players were hired, the original creator of the song
got somewhere and created what we call in the music business, a demo.
Chances are with one of these.
A guitar.
Even the biggest, most famous songs out there were effectively created twice.
Once as a demo and once in the actual studio.
Some of the greatest prototyping out there that I know of
is of Stevie Wonder, you know, talking into-- or going [HUMMING].
And then [HUMMING] becomes [SINGING] isn't she lovely?
Or something like that.
Michael Jackson had some prototypes where he's beating on his chest
and he's singing the songs.
And that song becomes "Billie Jean."
And even the crudest of crude prototype.
Like, what are they called?
The dirty prototype.
The down dirty.
Yeah, the dirty prototype really sounds dirty in the audio world.
And I pride myself on being a musician that
can hear how the prototype can get into the studio,
and how the-- whether we're going to use live drums or acoustic drums
to bring it and wrap it in the best possible version of itself.
The benefit of prototyping is that you actually
are able to not only get answers, but also key insights about the way
that a customer will interact with your particular business,
with your particular product, before you go through the enormous expense
of actually building it or creating it.
There's different ways.
You can make prototypes-- 3D printing right now, especially in our world,
right.
You can start to see and evaluate things.
Back in the old days, you could cut aluminum, right.
That was a little quicker.
Cutting was quicker.
It was cheaper to do that.
There are always ways to prototype.
I think the failure is we're afraid to ask people
what you could do to make it better.
We kinda get the prototype, and we look at it by ourselves,
or we ask our friends to come in.
And they're going to say they love it or not love it.
And I think the real challenge is, what are you
going to do with the information?
How are you going to be brave enough to say, I didn't get that right.
They need to fix that?
I'm always drawing.
I've always got a notebook in my back pocket.
I'm always drawing.
And that's my way of looking.
When I'm looking at things, I'm just kind of trying to understand.
The moment I have to follow it with my fingers,
with my eyes I'm looking-- I'm looking at it differently than I would just
be like, oh, yeah, look at that.
It's a different kind of observation.
And to me that's prototyping.
I'm always doing that.
Now, taking that to the studio, I'm always creating different things
to look at or look from.
And even in my paintings, it's like a place between drawing and painting.
What's the difference between a drawing and a painting?
What's the difference between performance and rehearsal?
What happens differently, and can you let people
in on what you're doing through the prototype?
Prototyping is to tap into your inner child, into your inner creativity
and come up, often, with crude ways to simulate what that experience will
be for your particular consumer.
It saves time.
It saves money.
And you can apply this methodology of prototyping to just about everything.
It can be a room you're rearranging.
It can be a song you're writing.
It could be a viral marketing campaign you're orchestrating
or a product you're developing.