Prototype thinking

I was watching a TV documentary yesterday about Frank Gehry, and what really struck me is his approach to prototyping as a creative process. Frank and his team use lots and lots of really low-fi, quick and dirt prototypes to translate their ideas into tangible shapes and formats. So far, nothing new.

The interesting fact is that Frank and his team always work with different types of prototypes simultaneously (models in different scales or different media) to remind them that those models are only representations of their ideas. In some way, this helps them keep their minds focused on the real building, avoiding going off on a tangent and designing something suitable for a model maker, but not for humans.

Service design also relies on a number of prototyping techniques: storyboarding, role-playing and acting, amongst others. But I guess that the message here is: the use of several types of prototypes simultaneously might help you get the bigger picture. A single prototype has limitations, and the use of different media and techniques might help you cast a more holistic view of the solution you might be looking for.