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Pretotype It
This Is Embarrassing
This is not a “proper book.”
Writing and editing a proper book on the subject of pretotyping would take months. I would love to write that book, but at this time I have no indication that such a book would be worth writing. Most books fail in the market, and most of them fail not because they are poorly written or edited, but because there aren’t enough people interested in them. They are not the right it.
What you are reading now is a pretotype edition of the book. I wrote and “edited” it in days instead of months, just to test the level of interest in such a book. I had a few friends and colleagues review it, but don’t be surprised if you find typos, misspellings, bad grammar, awkward formatting and all sorts of misteaks.
Releasing it in its present state is not easy for me.
The toughest thing about pretotyping is not developing pretotypes, that’s the fun part. The tough part is getting over our compulsion for prema- ture perfectionism and our desire to add more features, or content, before releasing the first version. The tough part is getting our pretotypes in front of people, where they will be judged, criticized and – possibly – rejected.
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn once said: “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
I am plenty embarrassed. I must be on the right track.
http://www.pretotyping.org/pretotype-...
This is not a “proper book.”
Writing and editing a proper book on the subject of pretotyping would take months. I would love to write that book, but at this time I have no indication that such a book would be worth writing. Most books fail in the market, and most of them fail not because they are poorly written or edited, but because there aren’t enough people interested in them. They are not the right it.
What you are reading now is a pretotype edition of the book. I wrote and “edited” it in days instead of months, just to test the level of interest in such a book. I had a few friends and colleagues review it, but don’t be surprised if you find typos, misspellings, bad grammar, awkward formatting and all sorts of misteaks.
Releasing it in its present state is not easy for me.
The toughest thing about pretotyping is not developing pretotypes, that’s the fun part. The tough part is getting over our compulsion for prema- ture perfectionism and our desire to add more features, or content, before releasing the first version. The tough part is getting our pretotypes in front of people, where they will be judged, criticized and – possibly – rejected.
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn once said: “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
I am plenty embarrassed. I must be on the right track.
http://www.pretotyping.org/pretotype-...
72 pages
First published October 1, 2011
26 people are currently reading
428 people want to read
About the author
Alberto Savoia
10 books45 followersAs Google’s first Engineering Director, Alberto Savoia led the team that launched the
phenomenally successful Google AdWords.
He then shifted his focus to help Google maintain its
exponential going through aggressive company-wide innovation.
In his unique role as Google’s
Innovation Agitator, Alberto led a team that developed a powerful set of tools and practices to
help Google continue to innovate with the creativity, agility, and courage of startups.
Word of the impressive impact and results of Alberto’s approach to innovation quickly spread
beyond Google.
Today, he teaches and practices Apex Innovation worldwide, lectures at Stanford
University, and coaches Fortune 500 companies. From the first “Innovate Like A Startup. Go To
Market Like A Grownup” Stanford workshop in 2011, to today’s “How To Become an Innovators”
executive seminars at Google, Alberto’s insights and techniques have had a deep and lasting impact on the
way many world-leading companies view and approach innovation.
Alberto’s work as an innovator has won him significant recognition and awards, including the
2005 Wall Street Journal Technical Innovator Award, and he’s the author of “The Right It—Why
most new ideas fail and how to make sure yours succeed”, published by HarperCollins in 2019.
phenomenally successful Google AdWords.
He then shifted his focus to help Google maintain its
exponential going through aggressive company-wide innovation.
In his unique role as Google’s
Innovation Agitator, Alberto led a team that developed a powerful set of tools and practices to
help Google continue to innovate with the creativity, agility, and courage of startups.
Word of the impressive impact and results of Alberto’s approach to innovation quickly spread
beyond Google.
Today, he teaches and practices Apex Innovation worldwide, lectures at Stanford
University, and coaches Fortune 500 companies. From the first “Innovate Like A Startup. Go To
Market Like A Grownup” Stanford workshop in 2011, to today’s “How To Become an Innovators”
executive seminars at Google, Alberto’s insights and techniques have had a deep and lasting impact on the
way many world-leading companies view and approach innovation.
Alberto’s work as an innovator has won him significant recognition and awards, including the
2005 Wall Street Journal Technical Innovator Award, and he’s the author of “The Right It—Why
most new ideas fail and how to make sure yours succeed”, published by HarperCollins in 2019.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 3, 2014
Un libro claro y rápido acerca de la metodología del pretotipo. Sin duda es de gran ayuda para quienes quieren emprender con muy pocos recursos. Muestra técnicas y aspectos que se pueden implementar para analizar la propuesta antes de ser lanzada.
Tiene algunos errores de edición por los cuales el autor se disculpa.
Tiene algunos errores de edición por los cuales el autor se disculpa.
January 30, 2017
Great book for entrepreneurs.
January 21, 2022
Loved it - here is a summary
Make sure you are building the right it, before you build it right
As you read on, some of good acronyms and mnemonics for it are:
• idea on the table
• idea to test
• innovation to try
Most ideas fail
• 90% of all mobile apps don’t make any money
• Four startups out of five lose money for the investors
• 80% of new restaurants close within one year
Fake It Before You Make It: pretotyping
To avoid investing a ton of time & money into making something without knowing if there is a need / market for it, make a fake version and test with that.
2 examples: IBM made a fake version of speech to text software (where someone was actually listening and typing the word out);
Formal definition:
Pretotyping [pree-tuh-tahy-ping], verb: Testing the initial appeal and actual usage of a potential new product by simulating its core experience with the smallest possible investment of time and money.
Less formal definition:
Pretotyping is a way to test an idea quickly and inexpensively by creating extremely simplified, mocked or virtual versions of that product to help validate the premise that "If we build it, they will use it."
Summary definition:
Make sure – as quickly and as cheaply as you can – that you are building the right it before you build it right
It will fail
Most new its will fail – even if they are flawlessly executed.
• Do nothing with it
• Go for it (productype it) Productyping is the way most new products are developed. Productyping is the reason why most failures are slow, painful and expensive failures.
• Give it a try (pretotype it)
How to pretotype?
The Mechanical Turk – Replace complex and expensive computers or machines with human beings.
The Pinocchio – Build a non-functional, “lifeless”, version of the product.
The Minimum Viable Product (or Stripped Tease) – Create a functional version of it, but stripped down to its most basic functionality.
The Provincial – Before launching world-wide, run a test on a very small sample.
The Fake Door – Create a fake “entry” for a product that doesn’t yet exist in any form.
The Pretend-to-Own – Before investing in buying whatever you need for your it, rent or borrow it first.
The Re-label – Put a different label on an existing product that looks like the product you want to create.
Ethical considerations
Consider power and privilege: are you about to pretend like a life-altering product exists to a disenfranchised group of people?
Testing it
Data: Initial Level of Interest (ILI); Ongoing Level of Interest (OLI). Make sure you’re not collecting biased data.
Examples
Clothes folding machine at a laundromat
Writing a book about squirrel watching
Participatory design. The value of prototyping in participatory design is largely in making ideas explicit and directly engaging stakeholders, particularly users and others who will be impacted, in the development of effective solutions. The emphasis is primarily on the design outcome. Sometimes, participatory design practices are valued also for the personally enriching nature of the democratization of design, as a process involving people in decision making about their work environment.
Make sure you are building the right it, before you build it right
As you read on, some of good acronyms and mnemonics for it are:
• idea on the table
• idea to test
• innovation to try
Most ideas fail
• 90% of all mobile apps don’t make any money
• Four startups out of five lose money for the investors
• 80% of new restaurants close within one year
Fake It Before You Make It: pretotyping
To avoid investing a ton of time & money into making something without knowing if there is a need / market for it, make a fake version and test with that.
2 examples: IBM made a fake version of speech to text software (where someone was actually listening and typing the word out);
Formal definition:
Pretotyping [pree-tuh-tahy-ping], verb: Testing the initial appeal and actual usage of a potential new product by simulating its core experience with the smallest possible investment of time and money.
Less formal definition:
Pretotyping is a way to test an idea quickly and inexpensively by creating extremely simplified, mocked or virtual versions of that product to help validate the premise that "If we build it, they will use it."
Summary definition:
Make sure – as quickly and as cheaply as you can – that you are building the right it before you build it right
It will fail
Most new its will fail – even if they are flawlessly executed.
• Do nothing with it
• Go for it (productype it) Productyping is the way most new products are developed. Productyping is the reason why most failures are slow, painful and expensive failures.
• Give it a try (pretotype it)
How to pretotype?
The Mechanical Turk – Replace complex and expensive computers or machines with human beings.
The Pinocchio – Build a non-functional, “lifeless”, version of the product.
The Minimum Viable Product (or Stripped Tease) – Create a functional version of it, but stripped down to its most basic functionality.
The Provincial – Before launching world-wide, run a test on a very small sample.
The Fake Door – Create a fake “entry” for a product that doesn’t yet exist in any form.
The Pretend-to-Own – Before investing in buying whatever you need for your it, rent or borrow it first.
The Re-label – Put a different label on an existing product that looks like the product you want to create.
Ethical considerations
Consider power and privilege: are you about to pretend like a life-altering product exists to a disenfranchised group of people?
Testing it
Data: Initial Level of Interest (ILI); Ongoing Level of Interest (OLI). Make sure you’re not collecting biased data.
Examples
Clothes folding machine at a laundromat
Writing a book about squirrel watching
Participatory design. The value of prototyping in participatory design is largely in making ideas explicit and directly engaging stakeholders, particularly users and others who will be impacted, in the development of effective solutions. The emphasis is primarily on the design outcome. Sometimes, participatory design practices are valued also for the personally enriching nature of the democratization of design, as a process involving people in decision making about their work environment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2018
A great little book which puts forth an idea very effectively, and becomes a living example of it: Pretotyping (a word the author has coined) is the art of finding the right 'it' to build, before you build it right.
Fundamentally, this book is offers a few methods to quickly learn if the product you're building is the right one; before you invest too much time/money into it. It differs from the 'Zero-to-One' approach by Peter Thiel - the latter espouses doggedly going behind vertical jumps in technology which radically improve life.
Some interesting pretotyping methods
# Mechanical Turk: Carry out the tasks of the product manually first, to get feedback from the users; before building complicated tech to automate the tasks and adding (potentially unnecessary) features.
# Fake Entry Gate: Have the users show interest by building say landing pages which gather enquiries.
# Pinocchio: Build a replica of the product in wood/cardboard first, and carry around/use/distribute to get feedback - for products where the form factor is critical.
Overall, a book that achieves what it set out to!
Fundamentally, this book is offers a few methods to quickly learn if the product you're building is the right one; before you invest too much time/money into it. It differs from the 'Zero-to-One' approach by Peter Thiel - the latter espouses doggedly going behind vertical jumps in technology which radically improve life.
Some interesting pretotyping methods
# Mechanical Turk: Carry out the tasks of the product manually first, to get feedback from the users; before building complicated tech to automate the tasks and adding (potentially unnecessary) features.
# Fake Entry Gate: Have the users show interest by building say landing pages which gather enquiries.
# Pinocchio: Build a replica of the product in wood/cardboard first, and carry around/use/distribute to get feedback - for products where the form factor is critical.
Overall, a book that achieves what it set out to!
March 16, 2021
Na duży plus język. Czasami mam wrażenie, że produktowe pozycje książkowe to trochę takie copy-paste jeśli chodzi o stosowany poziom ogólności, "buzz wordy" czy różne utarte frazesy. Tu miałem wrażenie, jakby autor pisał książkę z serca i mocno na bazie swojego zawodowego doświadczenia. Do tego korzystając z formy, która była dla niego po prostu najbardziej komfortowa.
Dzięki temu bezpośredniemu, świeżemu językowi bardzo dobrze czytało mi się tę pozycję. Treść też okazała się bardzo wartościowa, choć w moim przypadku na pewno nie rewolucyjna.
Autor właściwie definiuje rolę product managera, którego podstawową rolą powinno być decydowanie o kierunku rozwoju produktu (budowaniu tej "właściwej rzeczy"), a nie koncentracja na pracy wytwórczej.
Spodobało mi się podkreślanie, że w XXI wieku prototypy... to już za mało. Hipotezy biznesowe należy walidować na jeszcze wcześniejszym etapie. Na ogromny plus rozdział o pretotypowaniu nawet potencjalnie "złych" pomysłów.
Dzięki temu bezpośredniemu, świeżemu językowi bardzo dobrze czytało mi się tę pozycję. Treść też okazała się bardzo wartościowa, choć w moim przypadku na pewno nie rewolucyjna.
Autor właściwie definiuje rolę product managera, którego podstawową rolą powinno być decydowanie o kierunku rozwoju produktu (budowaniu tej "właściwej rzeczy"), a nie koncentracja na pracy wytwórczej.
Spodobało mi się podkreślanie, że w XXI wieku prototypy... to już za mało. Hipotezy biznesowe należy walidować na jeszcze wcześniejszym etapie. Na ogromny plus rozdział o pretotypowaniu nawet potencjalnie "złych" pomysłów.
November 13, 2017
I feel odd leaving a review for a book that was not "finished" but instead was a "pretotype". Nonetheless, I received a copy of this on my desk from my CMO. After reading it, I know exactly why I received it. Being on the innovation team we all too often want to TEST EVERYTHING even though it may not be the right "it". We waste time and resources and lots of money focusing on things that may not drive sales, may not drive traffic and may not do anything for anyone. This idea of pretotyping is exactly what we need to be doing with our testing strategies and to make sure we're focused on the right projects. If we can all apply this at our brand, I think we'll be better off :)
February 11, 2018
مفهوم پیشنمونه سازی در سال 2009 توسط آقای آلبرتو ساویا مطرح شده و توسعه یافته است. آلبرتو ساویا در کنار کارهای دیگرش، مدیر بخش مهندسی و مشوق نوآوری در بخش تبلیغات گوگل است. از آن به بعد این مفهوم در حال گسترش و توسعه یافتن است. کتاب «پیشنمونهسازی» هماکنون به زبان های گوناگونی ترجمه شده و در دانشگاههای استنفورد و سایر دانشگاههای دنیا در حال تدریس است.
این کتاب رو دوست خوبم عباس یزدان پناه در این آدرس ترجمه کرده و در اختیار گذاشته.
http://pretotyping.ir/
این کتاب رو دوست خوبم عباس یزدان پناه در این آدرس ترجمه کرده و در اختیار گذاشته.
http://pretotyping.ir/
December 15, 2020
Definition from the book: `Pretotyping is a way to test an idea quickly and inexpensively by creating extremely simplified, mocked or virtual versions of that product to help validate the premise that "If we build it, they will use it."`
Build something that is not even necessary functional to test whether it is the right idea.
Build something that is not even necessary functional to test whether it is the right idea.
November 24, 2021
great for aspiring entrepreneurs or really anyone who wants to bring any kind of idea to life whether in a small or big company. Pretotyping is essentially a concept which can be used widely. good and quick read!
August 23, 2018
Great concept. Worth learning about. Short book, so it won’t take long.
November 24, 2019
Todo: share it to my friends who have a good idea ;)
December 30, 2016
Pretotyping [pree-tow-tie-ping], verb: testing the initial appeal and actual usage of a potential new product by simulating its core experience with the smallest possible investment of time and money.
Alberto Savoia, author of the book, has seen that on many ideas that fail (the Wrong IT) their creators had had spend to much money and time that became harder for them to let them go, and on the other hand, the ideas that succeed (the Right IT) where less than the 20%, stated by The Law of Failure “most new its will fail - even if they are flawlessly executed”
The IT which the book refers to are thoughts we have:
· Ideas on the Table · Ideas to Test · Innovation to Try
The point of pretotyping is to find if our IT is the right thing to build. “Make sure you are building the right it before you bulid it right”
Real pretotype cases before “pretotyping” existed: · IMB speech-to-test experiment
IMB were making typewriters and computers at the time, but they find that most people found really hard type effectively. With this problem in front, they design an amazing artifact that you could speak to it and the machine would reproduce your words on the paper. To make this possible IBM needed to invest an excessively amount of money and time for research to create a 1st prototype, but before continuing with the idea they tested the product reproducing what it would do to check the customers opinions. They put a PC screen and a microphone in the room where the tester will be, and on another room would be a profesional typewriter with the keyboard and a speaker. When the tester spoke at the microphone its words appeared “magically” on the screen. After this test they saw that their product had some cons: users would end up with sore throat, it would create a noisy work environment, and was unsafe for confidencial papers.
· The Palm Pilot experiment
Jeff Hawkins had just failed recently and was determined to not fail again, so before
expending time in an expensive prototype, he make sure he had the right idea. He cut a pice of wood that fitted his shirt pocket, and draw it as how it would look when in function. He carried around the wood and pretend to used as if it was real to test if someone would use it. After answering positively to it, he begun to create the prototype and his idea became very succesful, the PDA.
Conclusion is “Fake IT before you make IT”
Pretotype helps ideas come out of THOUGHTLAND without free-falling, it’s the in between from doing nothing to make it happen, to simply go for it, instead just give it a try.
There are some techniques to pretotype:
I. The Mechanical Turk
Humans replace the functions of technology (IBM speech-to-test)
II. The Pinocchio
Only the basic structure and imagination (Palm Pilot)
III. The MPV or The Stripped Tease
“collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort”
IV. The Provincial
Test in a smaller part group/territory
V. The Fake Door
fake add on internet (interested people will click the link)
VI. The Pretend-To-Own
Renting before finally buying
And also there are metrics to calculate the interest I. Initial Level of Interest (ILI)
number of actions taken (actual client) / number of opportunities for action offered
(possible client)
II. OngoingLevelofInterest(OLI)
ILI with a larger amount of time of observation
Alberto Savoia, author of the book, has seen that on many ideas that fail (the Wrong IT) their creators had had spend to much money and time that became harder for them to let them go, and on the other hand, the ideas that succeed (the Right IT) where less than the 20%, stated by The Law of Failure “most new its will fail - even if they are flawlessly executed”
The IT which the book refers to are thoughts we have:
· Ideas on the Table · Ideas to Test · Innovation to Try
The point of pretotyping is to find if our IT is the right thing to build. “Make sure you are building the right it before you bulid it right”
Real pretotype cases before “pretotyping” existed: · IMB speech-to-test experiment
IMB were making typewriters and computers at the time, but they find that most people found really hard type effectively. With this problem in front, they design an amazing artifact that you could speak to it and the machine would reproduce your words on the paper. To make this possible IBM needed to invest an excessively amount of money and time for research to create a 1st prototype, but before continuing with the idea they tested the product reproducing what it would do to check the customers opinions. They put a PC screen and a microphone in the room where the tester will be, and on another room would be a profesional typewriter with the keyboard and a speaker. When the tester spoke at the microphone its words appeared “magically” on the screen. After this test they saw that their product had some cons: users would end up with sore throat, it would create a noisy work environment, and was unsafe for confidencial papers.
· The Palm Pilot experiment
Jeff Hawkins had just failed recently and was determined to not fail again, so before
expending time in an expensive prototype, he make sure he had the right idea. He cut a pice of wood that fitted his shirt pocket, and draw it as how it would look when in function. He carried around the wood and pretend to used as if it was real to test if someone would use it. After answering positively to it, he begun to create the prototype and his idea became very succesful, the PDA.
Conclusion is “Fake IT before you make IT”
Pretotype helps ideas come out of THOUGHTLAND without free-falling, it’s the in between from doing nothing to make it happen, to simply go for it, instead just give it a try.
There are some techniques to pretotype:
I. The Mechanical Turk
Humans replace the functions of technology (IBM speech-to-test)
II. The Pinocchio
Only the basic structure and imagination (Palm Pilot)
III. The MPV or The Stripped Tease
“collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort”
IV. The Provincial
Test in a smaller part group/territory
V. The Fake Door
fake add on internet (interested people will click the link)
VI. The Pretend-To-Own
Renting before finally buying
And also there are metrics to calculate the interest I. Initial Level of Interest (ILI)
number of actions taken (actual client) / number of opportunities for action offered
(possible client)
II. OngoingLevelofInterest(OLI)
ILI with a larger amount of time of observation
February 26, 2014
Very interesting book on testing out a product for its viability before investing too much time/effort/money to building it. I read the free PDF copy from http://www.pretotyping.org/ and found it thoughtful and "just made sense." I can certainly think of many products that I've seen come and go in the market as well as have worked on myself at various companies that just weren't the right it. I think some sort of pretotyping might very well have saved a lot of time/money in a number of cases!
The book is clearly written, fairly short, and a quick and easy read. I'd recommend it to anyone who is involved with building businesses and products.
The book is clearly written, fairly short, and a quick and easy read. I'd recommend it to anyone who is involved with building businesses and products.
March 12, 2015
I think this book was recommended by some Quora answer and I thought it was about pr[o]totyping and not pr[e]totyping .. Only noticed when I started reading the book.
I like the book. It was able to deliver its message in as few pages as possible. It covers the concept of pretotyping, which is what is supposed to happen before investing time and money in building a prototype or MVP. It will help you make sure you are building the right it, before investing in building it right.
From now on, whenever someone gonna ask me for advice about starting his/her own startup, I will advise them to read that book first.
I like the book. It was able to deliver its message in as few pages as possible. It covers the concept of pretotyping, which is what is supposed to happen before investing time and money in building a prototype or MVP. It will help you make sure you are building the right it, before investing in building it right.
From now on, whenever someone gonna ask me for advice about starting his/her own startup, I will advise them to read that book first.
January 26, 2017
A very light read suitable for study breaks. Smooth writing that doesn't feel like writing. The concept of pretotype is certainly not groundbreaking, but it serves as a neat reminder for entrepreneurs who seek an affordable failure before launching the venture. It is a nice guide on how to take calculated risks without sacrificing too much. Similar writings based on the concept of "fail fast" include the Lean Startup and a 2016 HBR How to Really Learn from the Failure, which are also great complimentary reads on this topic.
August 21, 2013
A short book; a must read for any creative and agitated mind. Even if you have some liking of creative expression I would recommend that you read this book.
This book formulates the idea of building pretotypes that help you validating your ideas and also get an answer to that burning question that should I bring this idea to life. The analogies presented are very useful.
The book is even available as a free read on http://pretotyping.org/ . So don't waste time just give it a read.
This book formulates the idea of building pretotypes that help you validating your ideas and also get an answer to that burning question that should I bring this idea to life. The analogies presented are very useful.
The book is even available as a free read on http://pretotyping.org/ . So don't waste time just give it a read.
August 6, 2016
This is the first book I would read if you're thinking about launching your own product or service.
It goes in the same direction as the Lean Startup (by Eric Ries) and Running Lean (by Ash Maurya) but in this case, it focuses on the very first step: deciding which idea to pursue.
Also, it's much more practical and short (about 80 pages).
It goes in the same direction as the Lean Startup (by Eric Ries) and Running Lean (by Ash Maurya) but in this case, it focuses on the very first step: deciding which idea to pursue.
Also, it's much more practical and short (about 80 pages).
May 23, 2015
As a concept, I find it interesting. As a way to "test the concept" by writing a "test book", I find it quite interesting. As a book on its own, which was not the purpose of the author, I was left disappointed. This in itself is interesting, as the "pretotype" left me disappointed of the product I tried but still wanted more.
May 12, 2012
Pretotyping is very similar to lean startup MVP concept. The cool thing about this book is that it is very short, practical, and fresh examples of the fake it before you make it approach. Fast and recommended read
November 27, 2012
Love this book and the concepts behind it. This is a great fast read to get to concepts to think about how to better know if you are building the right product. Good clear examples, definition of tools to help you through the process.
October 28, 2013
A must-read for anyone in product development. It is well written and easy to read. Has great examples and good thoughts. Only heads-up for this (e)book (which by the way is free, so no excuse for not reading it!).
December 16, 2016
This book is the right It on pretotyping - short, funny, inspiring and to the point.
June 11, 2016
جزو کتابایی هست که به ادم دید میده... خوب بود
January 19, 2016
A must read for entrepreneurs!!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews