The Product Architect

Framework · list

Behavior Prototype Checklist

What a prototype should test before it is styled: assumption, trigger, system response, visibility, user control, failure case, recovery path.

Framework · discipline

Behavior Prototype Checklist

What a prototype should test before it is styled: assumption, trigger, system response, visibility, user control, failure case, recovery path.

  1. Assumption

    What behavioral belief is the prototype trying to prove or disprove?

  2. Trigger

    What starts the behavior, and who or what initiates it?

  3. System response

    What does the system do in response, over time or immediately?

  4. Visibility

    What does the user need to see about state, reasoning, confidence, or consequence?

  5. User control

    Where can the user steer, pause, override, or refuse the behavior?

  6. Failure case

    What happens when the system is wrong, late, uncertain, or incomplete?

  7. Recovery path

    How does the user repair the situation without losing trust or context?

Use the sequence before deciding whether the system should act.

What it helps you see

It exposes the questions or checks that need to be answered before the product behavior can be trusted.

How to use it

Use this to scope the smallest running artifact that can answer a real behavior question. The output is a prototype brief.

Use it when

Use this when a product question in Prototype the Behavior needs structure before it becomes a screen, roadmap item, or portfolio claim.

Practice prompt

Choose a real product, project, or career decision and answer the framework's items in order. Carry forward the answer that changes the next move.

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Source chapter

This framework was authored in Prototype the Behavior. Read the chapter for the full argument and the worked examples that produced this shape.