Rough Prototype

A rough prototype is a deliberately unpolished early-stage version of an artifact, presented for shape-level feedback rather than for polish-level evaluation. Roughness is structural, not apologetic — the prototype is rough because polish is not the point at this stage. A one-page outline, a three-slide sketch, a handwritten diagram, a two-minute rough Loom walkthrough are typical forms. Rough prototypes invite shape-level feedback — does this solve the problem, what does it assume, what is missing — that polished prototypes do not. The term comes from design-thinking practice and is central to Prototype Demo + Feedback.