Looking for patentable features led me to pinpoint the core of the difference between what I wanted to build and what had been done before. And then, writing the patent application encouraged me to look at alternate ways it could be done or used.
In the process, I found new ways of looking at the problem.
So I ended up with two very different paper prototypes, on the two extremes: one very visual relying on 3D, and one minimalist.
At that point, I showed the prototypes to many of my friends and got a lot of useful feedback. Thank you all!
The reaction to the 3D approach was black or white and directly related to the viewer’s way of thinking: architects and visual artists loved it, and other people felt uncomfortable with it.
But everybody understood the minimalist approach in a flash and could relate to it.
Concerned about my limited resources and the human interaction complexity of a new kind of 3D workspace, I chose to start with the minimalist approach.
