Fake It. Trash It. Build It.

“We didn’t start with any wireframes. We didn’t spend anytime in brainstorming meetings. I gathered an understanding of the general goals, and went to work throwing my initial thoughts into a fake product. The end result was a prototype that, in a lot of ways, was functional.”

Just as writers do, designers often get caught up in minor details and the implementation of processes rather than creating a final product. Whether that sticking point is a brand new text editor or a distraction-free writing environment, a wireframe or finding the perfect hue to contrast just so with another color, it is important to put these potential time sinks in perspective: while they certainly are important, we “need to concentrate on the things that the reader will notice”, to quote Ben Brooks, rather than the details we get caught up in all too often, the details that prevent makers from making things.