Lesson 5 · Show it, learn and decide: test your prototype and plan what comes next

Where you are

This is the last hour. You have a prototype. Today you watch two people try it, write down what they did, and decide what to do next. Then you plan how you will keep using AI over the next 90 days.

What you will make

Notes from two short tests, a clear decision, and a 90-day AI plan: three small things you will do with AI, one a month.

For the fictional café: two volunteers try the rota screen. One signs up for a shift straight away; the other can't find next week. The decision: keep going, and add a clear "Next week" button.

Outcomes

By the end of the tutorial you can:

1. Show a prototype without explaining it first, and watch what people do.
2. Write down what people did, kept apart from what they said.
3. Decide what to do next, based on what you saw.
4. Make a simple, safe plan for using AI over the next 90 days.
5. Know where to go next if you want to learn more.

How to use the prompts

• Copy each prompt as written, paste it into your AI assistant and press send.
• Replace anything in [square brackets] with your own words, and delete the brackets.
• Every prompt works in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, on a free account.
• After each prompt, read the Check and answer it honestly before moving on.
• Never paste personal information: no names, addresses, phone numbers, health details, money details or anything about the people you help or work with. Write "Person 1" and "Person 2".

Tutorial

1 · Plan the test 5 min

I am going to show my prototype to two people for five minutes each. It is for [who], so they can [the main thing it does]. Give me one simple task to ask them to do, in one sentence, without explaining how. Then give me a notes page with three parts: "What they did", "What they said", and "Where they got stuck".

Check. Did you get one task that doesn't tell people which button to press? For the café: "You want to help out next Tuesday morning. Show me what you would do." Did you copy the notes page into your notebook, twice?

2 · Show it to two people 12 min

Ask each person if they are happy to try something for five minutes and if you can take notes without their name. Give them the task, then stay quiet. Don't explain the screen first and don't help unless they are completely stuck. Write down what they do.

Afterwards, paste your notes, with names removed:

Here are my notes from two people trying my prototype. Names are removed. [paste your notes]. Using only what is in my notes, tell me: what did each person actually do, where did they get stuck, and what did they say? Don't add anything that is not in my notes.

Check. Did you show it to two real people, without explaining it first? Did you write down what they did, not only what they said? Did the AI's summary match your notes, with nothing invented? "It's lovely" is kind, but "she found the button in five seconds" is evidence.

3 · Decide what next 6 min

Based on my notes, help me decide what to do next. Give me three options: keep going and improve one thing; change the idea because the problem looks different; or stop and pick another problem. For each, say what in my notes supports it. Then ask me which one I choose and why.

Check. Did you make the decision yourself, and can you say why in one sentence? Stopping is a good decision if the evidence says so: you learned it in five hours, not five months. Write your decision in your notebook.

4 · Your 90-day AI plan 8 min

Help me make a simple 90-day plan for using AI. I am [a few words about you, for example "a volunteer at a food bank" or "retired and curious"], and I want to [what you want from AI]. Give me one small goal for each month, each with one thing to try in my free AI assistant. Add one safety habit for each month. Keep it to one short page.

Check. Did you change the plan until it feels like yours and is small enough to actually do? Does it include at least one safety habit, such as checking sources or never pasting personal details? Did you note when to ask a person instead of an AI, for health, money, legal or safeguarding questions?

5 · Your certificate and next steps 4 min

In one sentence, describe what I made in this course, for my certificate: a prototype of [your product] for [who], tested by two people. Then, in one sentence, tell me the most important thing I learned, based on our conversation today.

Print your certificate: open the Certificate of Participation, fill in your name and your sentence, and print it or save it as a PDF. It records that you took part; it is not an assessment.

Want to go further? MVPAI in a Week is five days that take you from a problem to a working piece of software. The MVP Founders Programme is twelve weeks that take a product to real users.

Check. Did you print or save your certificate? Did you note one next step: carry on with your plan, test your prototype with more people, or look at MVPAI in a Week? Well done: five hours ago you may never have used AI, and now you have built and tested something of your own.

Facilitator notes

• Step 2 works best with people outside the group, but other learners are fine if they don't share the same idea. Pair learners up and swap prototypes.
• The hardest part for most people is staying quiet. Model it: show your own prototype to a volunteer and say nothing.
• Some decisions in step 3 will be "stop". Treat that as a success out loud, so nobody feels they failed.
• For the 90-day plan, keep goals small and personal. Useful examples: writing a letter more clearly, planning a week's meals, making a poster for a group event.
• Have the certificate page open on the projector and show how to print or save it as a PDF. Have a few printed copies for anyone without a printer at home.
• Close by asking each learner to say one thing they will try with AI this week.

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