When I was giving advice about the fbFund I had a number of queries about whether the applicants should build prototypes or film screencasts or just spend time writing their proposal.
My advice was always to do whatever it took to minimize the imagination gap. Figure out what shows off the idea in as concrete a form as possible. It is hard work to extrapolate in a way that is identical to the person with the original idea. Make it as easy as possible.
This is it exactly. When I first started at my current company my boss and I did not share a first language. And only just barely a second language. But we did share a sense of imagination, and we were astounded many times to see that in a meeting with several people present, he and I would be easily layering our ideas, while the other people in the room (all sharing his first language) needed to see very explicit drawings before hesitantly seeming to see what we were seeing.
Without imagination, the world is entirely composed of that which you have already seen. How boring.
I agree. The best products are more about their potential, i.e. the internet, than a particular concrete, killer app. But it is easiest to understand a killer app and hardest to understand something's true potential.
When I was giving advice about the fbFund I had a number of queries about whether the applicants should build prototypes or film screencasts or just spend time writing their proposal.
My advice was always to do whatever it took to minimize the imagination gap. Figure out what shows off the idea in as concrete a form as possible. It is hard work to extrapolate in a way that is identical to the person with the original idea. Make it as easy as possible.