Build better prototypes together with the Miro Community
From website mock-ups to storyboarding, prototyping is critical to the creation of a product or service that sells. Without testing and refining, an organization can’t be sure its finalized offer will meet user needs.
Prototyping involves iterations of trial and error based on multiple ideas. Because of this, it’s often most effective when several people get involved. However, collaborative prototyping can be confusing when there isn’t an effective system to capture everyone’s ideas.
This is where building a community becomes invaluable. Use the power of the Miro Community to bring together creators, facilitators, and innovators in one supportive online hub. A strong community accelerates learning, fosters collaboration, and ensures that ideas are refined with diverse perspectives, helping teams develop solutions that truly meet user needs in the wild.
The power of community in prototyping
Prototyping is most effective when a product or service undergoes several rounds of iteration. Each time, new perspectives and comprehensive feedback strengthen the creation.
For iterative development to flourish, an organization needs a community to spark ideas. A community that makes resources and support accessible to the team developing its latest innovation. As such, community-led prototyping often leads to several invaluable outcomes, including:
Faster iteration and reduced costs
A knowledgeable community can support a team with templates and frameworks that have already worked for them. Community members can also offer peer support, guiding a team to solutions that they might not otherwise identify. As a result, teams can iterate faster to a successful product/service, minimizing wasted effort and costs.
Contextual solutions
Not all knowledge is helpful. However, local, niche-specific expertise can help a team ground its prototypes in real-world needs. A good-fit community will comprise industry specialists who have the knowledge a team needs to thrive.
Powerful feedback
Feedback is essential to prototyping. The most useful feedback often comes from a specific target audience and industry experts. Connecting with these experts isn’t always easy, but Miro’s Community makes it easier to share knowledge and gather feedback. Engaging with the community can help teams refine prototypes, reduce errors, and avoid costly missteps.
Increased engagement and buy-in
It’s never too early to seek the support of a knowledgeable community. Involving experts from the start of the process fosters ownership, trust, and long-term adoption.
Future learning
The support of an expert community is critical to prototyping a single product or service. But it also educates teams on a broader level about potential future developments. This is because peer-to-peer exchange spreads knowledge, upskills teams, and empowers contributors.
How Miro makes these outcomes a reality
The Miro Community is full of experts who enable each of these outcomes for teams worldwide. These specialists have created over 6,000 templates that can save teams hours of manual creation. They also connect with teams to share their experiences of solving similar challenges. This can help teams jump straight to solutions rather than trying to find these themselves. Because of this, teams can build relevant, collaborative, and resilient prototypes faster.
Community roles in prototyping
An effective community has experts who excel at different stages of the prototyping journey. Each individual will specialize in a different area and, therefore, be able to play an active role at a different time. The Miro Community comprises experts who are ready to inspire, collaborate, and connect at each stage of prototyping.
These experts include:
- Idea and template creators: Some community members are the minds behind Miroverse templates. Others are able to offer insights that will direct a team onto the right path for their prototype.
- Active participants: You can use other community members templates and chat with them on the Forum, and even participate in an event. The community allows you to build relationships with other experts, and if you wanted to, you could even grant them access to your board and collaborate with them.
- Gatekeepers and facilitators: Some members are industry leaders who can consider a variety of ideas and suggest which prototypes move forward. They may make recommendations based on how prototypes align with market needs and industry standards.
- Knowledge hub participants: Some members will be best placed to offer peer-to-peer support. They’re likely to be able to offer best practices for an industry in the Miro Forum.
- Innovation drivers: Some members will encourage experimentation through Miro’s challenges and events. This experimentation can inspire teams to become more innovative as they develop a product or service.
How to integrate community into prototyping
Getting started can be overwhelming when involving a community in prototyping. This is because community co-creation needs intentional steps. Miro makes it easy for teams to bring voices in, whether that’s from experts who are offering ideas or testing solutions.
Here’s how a team can integrate the Miro Community into its prototyping:
- Start with community insights: Research ideal user pain points and gather initial ideas from Miro’s forum, events, and user research.
- Co-create early: Invite community members into shared Miro boards. Here, they can collaborate as they sketch flows, wireframes, or prototypes.
- Use resources to save time: Adapt Miroverse templates that reflect real-world needs. Adjust these to ensure alignment with the prototype. This can save several hours of initial work so teams can focus on later refinements.
- Run inclusive workshops: Host sessions using tools like timers, voting, and sticky notes. These sessions encourage community participation and, by extension, can strengthen the prototyping process.
- Test and iterate: Share prototypes with the community for review and refinement, ready for the next round of iteration.
- Recognize contributions: Highlight and credit community input to build trust and sustain engagement.
- Encourage collaboration: Involve cross-functional roles from the community to prevent siloed thinking. These roles might include designers, developers, marketers, and stakeholders or executives.
By following these steps, teams can embed community into every stage of prototyping, especially since these steps can all happen inside Miro boards. This integration can lead to the development of inclusive, practical, widely adopted solutions. Perhaps more than could ever have been possible without community involvement.
How the Miro Community supports prototyping
Miro offers various spaces within its community to help teams connect with experts. These spaces include the Miro Forum, Miroverse, and Miro Events.
Learning through the forum
The Miro Community Forum is the ideal place to:
- Ask questions
- Share ideas
- Troubleshoot with peers
- Request features on Miro’s Wish List
The Wish List, along with participation in discussions, allows users to influence Miro’s developments. As the platform evolves, its prototyping features continue to strengthen.
Sharing with the Miroverse
The Miroverse is the ideal place to access thousands of user-created templates. These include product design flows, wireframes, and prototyping workshops. Teams can adapt these to their projects or publish their own templates to inspire others. They can also engage in Miroverse challenges to encourage creative prototyping approaches.
Connecting via events
Miro’s events are the ideal places to learn from experts, see how other teams use Miro for prototyping, and connect with peers. These events involve workshops, hybrid/virtual meetups, and global networking. Each can prove critical in exchanging prototyping practices.
Prototyping better, together
Community is a multiplier of prototyping speed and quality. As a result, teams can expect much faster progress when they engage with specialists. The Miro Community is bursting with experts. Each can offer ideas, resources, and collaboration opportunities, no matter which stage of the prototyping process you’re in. Learn how to get started with prototyping by exploring the Miroverse, Miro Community, and Events Calendar.
FAQs
What prototyping templates are available in the Miroverse?
The Miroverse features thousands of community-created templates. These include user journey maps, wireframes, usability testing flows, and product roadmaps. Each helps teams kickstart prototyping faster and adapt proven frameworks to their needs.
Are there community events focused on prototyping?
Yes. Miro hosts regular community events, both virtual and in-person. These cover topics like design thinking, product discovery, and prototyping best practices. Each offers hands-on learning and the chance to connect with other innovators.
Can I get feedback on my prototype in the forum?
Absolutely. The Miro Community Forum is a space to ask questions, showcase your work, and gather feedback from peers. Many members share suggestions, tips, and new ideas to help refine prototypes.
How can I share my prototype with the community?
Any user can contribute templates to the Miro Community by publishing a prototype as a template in the Miroverse. Once shared, other teams can explore and use it, while you gain visibility and feedback from the global Miro Community. Sharing your prototypes helps others, highlights your expertise, and invites feedback from peers.
How does the Miroverse help with prototyping?
The Miroverse is a library of thousands of user-created templates. Many focus on prototyping, product design, and user testing. You can adapt these templates directly or publish your own to share with the wider community.
How can I connect with other teams working on similar prototypes?
You can join discussions in the Miro Community Forum to ask or answer questions on similar projects. You can also share experiences and find peers working in the same industries or solving similar problems.
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