Building prototypes with Prompt Engineering has solved several problems for me and also helped me think more effectively as a product manager. The most significant advantage of rapid prototyping with prompt engineering is that you can ship quickly, receive feedback promptly, and move on to the next challenge if things don't work out as planned.
Building prototypes with Prompt Engineering has solved several problems for me and also helped me think more effectively as a product manager. The most significant advantage of rapid prototyping with prompt engineering is that you can ship quickly, receive feedback promptly, and move on to the next challenge if things don't work out as planned. Rapid prototyping helps you understand the feasibility of your solution while also enabling you to build a larger business around it. The best part is that the cost is very minimal compared to hiring an entire team of developers to build an MVP.
In this blog, I will cover some learnings and observations from building rapid prototypes. If you want to learn how to make rapid prototypes, check this blog for more information.
One of the best quotes I tell myself is "Necessity is the mother of all inventions". Most projects I try to build must solve a problem I am currently facing in my daily life. Note down about 5 issues you are facing that can be solved with technology, and pick the one you think can really help you. Focus on the problem and its solution, rather than trying to build a prototype. If you start building with features, you might end up with a product that doesn't solve a specific problem and instead chase trends. Once you have your prototype set up, start adding features that your users are asking for, and ensure you make decisions based on data.
When building a prototype, set a tight deadline and aim to complete it within a few hours, allowing you to prioritize the must-have features over the nice-to-have ones. Must-haves are those features that help in solving the core problem your product is trying to address, while nice-to-haves are additional features that add value, but are not worth spending too much time on for a prototype. Generally, tight timelines sharpen clarity, and with tools like SMART, you can be even more efficient. SMART is a well-established tool that says your goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
A significant advantage of shipping quickly is that you can ask your friends and family to test it, allowing you to gather valuable user feedback. Once you receive their feedback, you can iterate and ship a new version. Document their input in a spreadsheet so you can add priorities and incorporate it into your product accordingly. While user inputs are essential, making decisions based on data can significantly enhance the value of your product. When building your prototype, consider adding basic analytics, such as Google Analytics 4 (GA4), to map out how users interact with your product. There are numerous advantages to having analytics from the outset. You can pinpoint exactly what pages or features actually add value to your customers, understand what flows have the most friction and even identify some user personas that you could have initially missed. Shipping fast means you can gather user feedback early and iterate, mirroring how lean teams operate in big tech.
The most significant advantage of building things on the side is that you get to make decisions that can have ripple effects. Starting from feature selection to prioritization, all decisions can either make or break your prototype. You also get to learn how to interact with your customers, gather feedback, and analyze data if you have analytics. Every time you build a new prototype, you also learn better ways to solve any problem. In short, side projects train you in prioritization, user empathy, problem solving and trade-off decisions, which are core skills for any great product manager.
Building prototypes over the past few months has helped me strengthen my prioritization practices, improve my decision-making capabilities, enhance my stakeholder management skills, and generally improve as a product manager. Building rapid prototyping is a mini bootcamp for enhancing your product thinking skills. With prompt engineering and the creation of rapid prototypes, testing your ideas has never been easier (or cheaper). Don't focus on whether your project takes off or not, but focus on the lessons. Don't hold yourself back; let your curiosity take over today and start building.
The best way to learn product thinking is by doing. Pick a problem you're facing right now and start prototyping a solution. Remember: focus on learning, not perfection.
What will you build first? Share your prototyping journey with me!
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