I spent my game design studies prototyping relentlessly. The habit stuck with me, and today I still start projects with tiny experiments rather than grand roadmaps. Rapid prototyping is my favourite way to learn because it compresses the feedback loop between idea and insight.
Start ugly on purpose
My first prototypes are intentionally rough. I assemble off-the-shelf components, grey-box the visuals, and focus entirely on the interaction I want to evaluate. By avoiding polish, I stay open to radical changes and avoid falling in love with the wrong solution.
Invite critique early
Once something clicks, I put it in front of collaborators—even if it’s half broken. Their questions often reveal hidden assumptions about onboarding, failure states, or accessibility that I hadn’t considered.
Ship the learnings forward
The best part about prototypes is that they rarely go to waste. Even when an idea gets shelved, the insights fuel the next iteration. I reuse snippets of code, interaction patterns, and documentation templates across projects, building a personal toolkit that gets sharper with every attempt.
Prototyping keeps me honest, curious, and unafraid to start over.