Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Importance of Prototyping

Having "grown up" with designers around me, I've come to realize the value of prototyping things. At JCI the designers would mock things up, test them and make refinements. K encourages this a lot too. And I've learned from Baum-kuchen how it can easily become a natural part of the handmade/homemade process. It's hard to get things right the very first time - why put that pressure on ourselves?

So we are prototyping products (as demonstrated by K here, testing yet another product - Grandma Wiard's Chili Sauce - used to enhance a dish). This way I can have people test it, give feedback and make refinements before the first "official" small batch is made. I can prototype the prototype in potential recipes to share. But more importantly, if the prototype doesn't suck, I can share it with people that will really, really appreciate it.


We're also into heavy discussions about packaging. Prototyping packaging is very important because I have to live with the product for a while in it's complete state to make sure I love it and it fits the T(o)KC vibe and message.


I can see many dinner table discussions and prototype sessions in our future. Like my friend Wakako said, we'll never run out of things to talk about. I love that!


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