I know we’re midway through December, but it feels like it was just yesterday that I was Trick-or-Treating with my nieces for Halloween. Helping them get ready reminded me of the elaborate costumes I built as a child.

One year I painted half my face with lipstick and rouge and the other half with green face paint, and sewed a pink dress and a black dress together. Half princess, half witch. Another year I wore a sombrero on my head and a hula hoop around my waist, suspended with string. I cut horses out of foam core and placed them around the hoop, turning myself into a Merry-Go-Round.

Then there was the year, perhaps around age 8, when I had a grand vision to be a gumball machine. I showed up to school in the costume you see below, but classmates asked the dreaded question: “What are you?”

I remember bursting into tears once I got in my mom’s car after school. The costume was so obvious to me; why couldn’t they get it?

My First Taste of Innovation

Once we got home, my mom replaced the colored balloons with purple ones, swapped my leggings, and turned me into a cluster of grapes. I don’t remember much about my evening of Trick-or-Treating in the grape costume except that nobody asked what I was—a triumph!

My mom didn’t just rescue me from my own costume; she gave me an early lesson in rapid iteration. With a few tweaks, my idea went from confusing to clear. I also learned the hard way that next time, I’d need to test my idea early instead of assuming everyone would see it as I did.

These same innovation insights often surface in my work as Ei’s Director of Programs. Leading hackathons and innovation sprints with teams across industries, I find myself constantly emphasizing the importance of early testing and stepping out of your own perspective to uncover what truly works.

Creating A Regular Space to Test Prototypes

And it’s not just other companies I encourage to adopt the mindsets of innovators—I’ve worked to embed the practices of rapid iteration and prototype testing within our product team as well. To do this, I instituted a biweekly working session where anyone building a new workshop, activity, or keynote can bring their V1 to test with the team. We serve as a live test audience for one another and give feedback using a tool called the Ladder of Feedback.

Test Early & Bring Open Arms Stance

I encourage team members to test early because I’ve noticed two common stances—one works well, and one doesn’t.

The stance to avoid: The “Fingers Crossed Stance” seeks confirmation. “Boy, I worked hard on this. I sure hope they love it. Fingers crossed!” In this stance, team members are likely to feel defensive or threatened when they receive feedback.

The stance to embrace: The “Open Arms Stance” seeks improvement. “I’m so curious how this will land with the team. I hope they’ll have lots of ideas to make it better!” In this stance, team members believe their prototype is just version 1, and they are hoping the test session will lead to some radical changes.

When deadlines loom, it’s tempting to hope for approval rather than improvement. But testing early drafts lets you embrace an Open Arms Stance, where feedback energizes and sharpens your work.

I saw this firsthand when I brought an activity from a storytelling workshop to the space for testing. When my teammates tried the activity, I learned a lot: my instructions needed more specificity, participants needed more time to think, and the activity worked better in a larger, facilitated group rather than trios in breakout rooms. Their input helped me refine the activity and deliver a much stronger workshop. But if I’d received this feedback the day before facilitating, it likely would have felt overwhelming rather than helpful.

Building a Prototype Testing Practice on Your Team

Of course, what you test will depend on your team’s work. Instead of workshop activities, it might be a new product feature, a user interface, a landing page mock-up, interview questions, or an internal process you’re planning to launch.

If you’d like to adopt a similar practice on your team, here’s what I recommend:

1. Set a cadence. Choose a regular schedule (e.g., biweekly for 45 minutes) and send calendar invites.

2. Create a sign-up system. We use a Google Sheet linked to the calendar invite.

3. Test your own idea first. Sign up for the first session with an early-stage prototype you’re working on.

4. Make it interactive. Don’t just talk about your idea. Let the team use, handle, or experience your prototype. Observe their reactions as they interact with it.

5. Ask for feedback. Use the Ladder of Feedback and model an Open Arms Stance– show how glad you are to hear concerns and suggestions.

6. Encourage participation. Invite others to bring their early-stage prototypes to future sessions.

And, if you’re looking for support to set up this space, let us know! I’m a prototype test evangelist, and I love helping teams create practices that foster a culture of innovation and growth.