Prototypes, pilots and trials
As an idea progresses from proof of concept testing through multiple stages of rapid prototyping, there are a raft of challenges: the feasibility of making the product, delivering the service, how one would deal with particular issues or pinch-points, what the economics look like and how it could be cheapened. The driving principles at this stage are speed, keeping costs low, tangibility and feedback loops from users and specialists.
Prototyping
Prototyping refers to the design of a working model of a product or service that can be used to test out the reactions of potential clients...
Read moreFast prototyping
Fast prototyping emerged first in the software field, the idea being that fast implementation would speed up learning. This idea has now spread into service prototyping...
Read moreSlow prototyping
Slow prototyping is only beginning to be used as a term to refer to situations where new capacities are necessary for a new model to succeed....
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Beta testing
Beta testing usually follows prototyping and concept testing and moves testing out to the users’ actual environment for a ‘real-world’ test. The service/product is introduced to...
Read morePartnership pilots
Partnership pilots that bring together public sector, philanthropy and NGOs to test out alternative models of provision. The work of Atlantic Philanthropies in Ireland on eldercare...
Read morePublic pilots and experiments
Public pilots and experiments use formal evaluation methods, and in some cases controls. Classic pilots freeze a model for a period of time, and then measure...
Read moreRandomised Control Trials
Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) test a procedure with a randomly chosen sample of the public. In medicine RCTs use double blind methods so that the researchers...
Read moreWhole System Demonstration Pilots
Whole System Demonstration Pilots attempt to test out interconnected elements rather than the discrete services or actions usually associated with pilots. A good example is the...
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