Rapid Prototyping Techniques For Engaging Stakeholders

Proof-of-concepts take hours but production-grade reliability still takes months. I’ve lost count of the jaw-dropping demos I’ve seen (and built) in the last 18 months. The Gen-AI era lets us turn an idea into a working prototype before coffee gets cold. But here’s the trap: stakeholders watch that slick demo and instantly expect full-scale, 24×7, enterprise-grade performance. The gulf between the two is where products and reputations can sink. Here are three useful lessons I have learnt 1. Show the demo, but sell the definition of done. Every prototype reveal should end with a single slide titled “What Done Really Means.” List the uptime target, concurrency load, and failure budget. When stakeholders cheer, they’re cheering for that contract, not the GIF they just saw. 2. Separate demo velocity from deployment velocity. Measure prototypes in hours or days, but plan for production hardening in weeks/months. Different clocks, different KPIs, different decision gates. 3. Turn excitement into a transparent roadmap. Follow the wow-moment with a one-pager: reliability targets, scalability milestones, risk mitigations, next checkpoints. Momentum stays high, surprises stay low and everyone sees exactly how the headline demo becomes customer value. How does your team convert demo sparks into production fire? Share your tactics below.

We asked Michael Cerda, CPO at TelevisaUnivision, what his favorite rebel hack is. His answer: Build a prototype and put it directly on the device (usually a phone) of the person who needs to get excited about your idea. Here's how: 1. Create a functional prototype of the product or feature. 2. Install it on the target decision-maker's device. 3. This allows them to interact with and experience the idea firsthand. 4. The decision-maker is likely to show it to others, giving the idea a life of its own. 5. Eventually, the prototype reaches the entire executive management team. 6. This way you can showcase what's possible without significant resource investment. 7. It's a non-threatening way to plant the seed for an idea you care about, as you're asking for feedback rather than pushing a fully-formed concept. This hack is inexpensive, fun, and doesn't come across as presumptuous. It's a way to generate excitement and discussion around a new idea without stepping on too many toes or committing extensive resources upfront. 💡 ...If you want to learn from Michael's 25 years of experience creating value in both big companies and startups, and discover how he's consistently been at the forefront of innovation, then listen to the episode here. What's your go-to method for showcasing new ideas without committing extensive resources?

AI ENABLES PERMISSIONLESS INNOVATION The review gauntlet that product orgs use to "ensure quality" often kills breakthrough ideas before they see the light of day. Strategy reviews, product committees, design approvals—each layer of gatekeepers favors safe, consensus-driven concepts over the risky, opinionated bets that create real innovation. AI prototyping is changing this dynamic entirely. Smart PMs are now bypassing traditional approval processes by building functional AI prototypes themselves. Instead of pitching abstract concepts to committees, they're: - Creating working prototypes in hours or days - Testing directly with real customers - Gathering concrete feedback and usage data - Iterating based on actual user behavior - Walking into review meetings with proof, not just PowerPoints The result? They're presenting stakeholders with tangible experiences and customer validation rather than hypothetical arguments. It's much harder to kill an idea when users are already loving the prototype. The new playbook: Build first, get permission later. When you have a bold product idea, don't let it die in committee. Use AI to prototype your vision, validate it with real users, then use that momentum to navigate the approval process from a position of strength. What innovative ideas are you sitting on that could benefit from this approach?

Show, Don’t Tell: Vibe Prototyping Is the New PM Superpower I've shipped hundreds of features—from tiny ones like tags to major launches like Rescale’s AI Physics—and one thing holds true: prototypes beat specs. Every time. Now, with AI, you can prototype at the speed of thought. I call it Vibe Prototyping—a way to build and validate product vibes before real investment. Using tools like ChatGPT and Replit, you can go from insight to working UI in hours. Here’s how I do it: (1) Extract needs (<1h): Use ChatGPT DeepResearch to synthesize user insights from Reddit, support tickets, research, etc. (2) Draft a spec (1h): Write your vision, constraints, and references, then turn it into a detailed PRD with ChatGPT. (3) Generate a working prototype (1h): Feed the spec into Replit and get a working prototype in minutes. (4) Validate the need (days): Share with users, design, and stakeholders. Iterate fast. Why this matters: - Speed > Slides: You validate in hours, not months. - AI is the new IDE: It turns your intent into working code instantly. - No prototype = no meeting: Talking in abstract is a waste. - This is the new PM stack: Ignore it and get left behind. Agile is starting to feel like waterfall. The future isn’t more process—it’s better intuition, faster loops, and showing instead of telling. Even companies like Shopify are shifting to this. PMs who build prototypes will ship 10x more, with 10x less friction. The rest will be stuck writing PRDs no one reads.

From idea to prototype in hours, not weeks. That's been my recent experience experimenting with Lovable, and it's completely changed how I approach ideation and product thinking. Turning abstract ideas into clickable, interactive prototypes in no time means less talking about the concept, and more showing. In one recent build, the moment I shared the prototype, the conversation shifted from “What do you mean?” to “Is this how you see it?” That one shift sparked faster clarity, better feedback, and deeper alignment. No more endless meetings trying to describe what’s in everyone’s head. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way: 𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁. Even with powerful tools doing the heavy lifting, I start by organizing my thoughts on paper—with a clear outline, defined scope, and key user flows. The tool amplifies good product thinking, but it can't replace it. 𝟮. 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆. This becomes incredibly clear when you're building a visual prototype. Getting your information architecture right from the start saves significant rework later. 𝟯. 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸. Don't aim for perfection on the first build. Get something clickable in front of people quickly. The real insights come from watching others interact with your prototype, not from endless polishing. You can always go deeper and refine the prototype based on those initial insights. 𝟰. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. For initial builds, leverage local browser cache before connecting to databases or other external tools. It speeds things up considerably and keeps you agile. 𝟱. 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. A crucial reminder: never store your LLM API keys in plain text, especially if your project is public or remixable. Low-code tools like Lovable don’t just speed up the work—they unlock momentum, clarity, and collaboration. These change the way we think, not just what we build. Been experimenting with Lovable, Replit, v0 dev, or similar tools? I’d love to hear your best practices. ------------------------- P.S Curious about prototyping, product thinking, or AI workflows? I host Sunday brainstorming sessions — DM me if you'd like to join the next one!