This is one of my favorite ChiefDelphi posts of all time. Details 341's prototyping approach in 2012 which led to one of the most dominant scoring mechanisms that year:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...54&postcount=4
A few highlights:
-A well defined problem with specific criteria.
-The meticulous identification of variables in the chosen design, and the testing of upwards of 20 combinations of treatments of these different variables.
-Excellent research to back up their initial attempts, helped them take less iterations to efficiently reach an optimal solution to their problem.
-Good record keeping to be able to keep track of all the changes so they can go back to whatever worked best at any point in time.
-An emphasis on taking the simplest reasonable approach, then adding complexity only as it becomes necessary to meet the goal.
The results: Miss Daisy was 87-12-1 that season, seeding first at all 5 of their official events and only losing in the finals of their division at Championships. Also seeded first at IRI. That kind of success didn't happen by mistake, it was all about this process that brought them there. A lot to be learned about prototyping.