Create a digital prototype

A prototype is not the finished product. It is a quick version, sample, sketch, pitch or experience that helps someone react to your idea. The aim is to learn quickly, not to make something perfect. 

Your prototype should help you answer one clear question, such as:  

• Do customers understand the idea?  
• Would they use it?  
• What would stop them buying it?  
• What would they change about the idea? 

Strong student company prototypes could include:

• A one-page website describing the product or service 
• A hand-drawn or AI-generated picture of the product in use 
• A presentation or poster of the product/service and any research on its uses 
• A 60-second pitch you record on your phone 
• A sample made from low-cost materials 

AI can help you draft a prototype brief, create a first version of a product description, suggest test questions or generate a visual idea. Your team still needs to check whether the prototype is realistic, safe and suitable for your school or trade fair setting. 

Using prototypes to test out ambitious ideas 

Sometimes teams rule out their most creative ideas too early because they assume they would need to build the full product to prove it works.  

Programme rules, insurance requirements, safety checks, costs and time limits are real limits. However, they do not have to stop your team being innovative. A prototype gives your team a safe way to explore big ideas without making or selling the final product. 

For example, a team might want to develop a wearable safety device, an app, or an everyday item redesigned using sustainable materials during the programme. They might not have the money, resources or time to produce this. 

However, they could still test the idea by showing customers a prototype, and researching how it could be made and used. Customers can react to the problem, idea and design before the team decides whether to keep working with a prototype or if there is a simpler version they can actually deliver. 

This is especially useful when your idea is innovative, because the first test does not need to prove that the product can be made at scale. 

It only needs to answer:  

• Is this a problem customers recognise? 
• Is the solution easy to understand? 
• Is the idea safe, legal and realistic? 

If you receive a strong, positive reaction to the idea, your team can simplify it into a version that fits the Operating Framework, or continue the programme without selling the product or service to the public.  

Prototype before you rule it out 

• How can we test customer reactions to the idea without building the real thing? 
• Could we show the idea as a sketch, storyboard, model, video or pitch? 
• What part of the idea would be unsafe, expensive or outside programme rules if we tried to make it physically? 
• What smaller, safer version could we test this week? 
• What would we need to check with our teacher, Business Volunteer or Young Enterprise before taking it further? 

Worked example:  

“Know Before You Go” visual guide service prototype 

Idea: A service that creates simple visual guides for school spaces, clubs, trips or events so that students know what to expect before they arrive. 

Problem it solves: New or unfamiliar situations can be difficult when people do not know the layout, timings, expectations or options available. 

Prototype students could make:
A sample guide for one school event, club or space, with: 

• photos or sketches of the location 
• step-by-step arrival journey 
• clear timings 
• key people or help points 
• choices available, such as where to sit or take a break