The brief: Turn a rough sketch into a prototype one person can click. L2 on the Builder PM Ladder, about 90 minutes.
1. Write the bet
A whiteboard sketch or a paragraph in a spec gets read differently by everyone who sees it. A clickable prototype of one flow would get you sharper feedback in a day than a week of comments on a doc.
2. Ask for an outcome, not an app
Pick one flow you're working on (a signup, a settings change, a report screen). Sketch it on paper or describe it in a paragraph, then ask for a clickable prototype of just that flow, with realistic sample content, not placeholder text.
3. Catch the failure
Watch for a prototype that looks finished but skips the hard part: the empty state, the error, the case where the data is missing. Polish can hide the decision you actually need feedback on.
4. Add the guardrail
Add the empty state and one error state on purpose, and put 'Prototype, will be thrown away' on the screen itself. Use made-up data only.
5. Watch real use
Put it in front of one person who'd actually use it, ask them to do one task without help, and write down where they hesitate.
Tools
Any: Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable, v0, Cursor, Replit
Share what happened
Share a screenshot, the one task you tested, and where the person got stuck.
This is this week's brief. See every brief so far.