The ZURBlog is where we discuss interaction design and strategy.

Just a few weeks ago, Bryan talked about when to give up and how to rapidly iterate to a final product. You’re probably familiar with getting stuck on some detail in a your life or work, but sometimes, people just fail well.

So how do you make failing look good? You fail fast, and you fail often. People already do this day in and day out with good product design, just like Smart Design did with the Flip Mino video recorder.

Their team went through dozens of prototypes before settling on a final design and form factor. Check out the image below to get an idea of just how they prototype actual products. Pretty slick!

To keep things light and cost effective, they used cheap goods and materials to quickly construct product models. This helped them determine design decisions like size, form, weight, and placement of features with greater ease and actual research.

Failing fast is one of the best ways to quickly hash out ideas. Don’t get stuck on an idea or decision that’s leading you no where fast. Get unstuck: go wide and far with your ideas and then bring it back in when you actually start seeing results. You’ll reach the end faster with more momentum and less upfront costs. And when you’re done, grab a beer because you just did some amazing stuff.