The big idea: Before you commit to a life plan, test it cheaply by talking with people already living it and by trying a small slice of the work yourself.
In 60 seconds
- Test a life plan cheaply before you commit years to it.
- Prototype conversations: talk with people already living the life you are curious about.
- Prototype experiences: try a small slice of the work yourself.
Do this: plan at least one prototype conversation with good questions and a follow-up.
How life prototyping works
An Odyssey Plan is a guess about a life you might like. In Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans of the Stanford Life Design Lab say you should test that guess before you bet years on it. You test it the way designers test a product: with small, cheap prototypes that let you talk to the future and try a slice of it.
Pick a question
Choose one Odyssey Plan and the question it raises. “Would I enjoy hospital operations?” is testable. “What should I do with my life?” is not.
Test: could one conversation start to answer it?
Brainstorm prototypes
Frame a good question, then brainstorm many ways to test it with a few classmates. Go for quantity before you judge.
Test: do you have ten or more ideas?
Have prototype conversations
Talk with people already living the life you are curious about. Ask for their story, not a job.
Test: did you learn something you could not find online?
Try prototype experiences
Do a small slice of the work: shadow for a day, take on a two-week project, volunteer for one shift.
Test: did you feel the work, not just hear about it?
Prototype conversations
- Who. Someone doing the work now, ideally a few years ahead of you.
- The ask. A short, time-limited request to hear how they got there and what the work is like.
- The questions. Open questions about a real week, the hard parts and what surprised them.
- The payoff. A real picture of the life, plus names of the next people to talk to.
Prototype experiences
- Shadow. Spend an afternoon with an analyst, a plant manager or a nurse leader.
- Mini project. Offer a two-week analysis or a small process map for a nonprofit or campus office.
- Volunteer. Work one shift in a hospital, a food bank or a city service you are curious about.
- Short course. Take a weekend workshop before you sign up for a degree.
Ask for their story, not a job
People enjoy telling how they got where they are. They tense up when a stranger asks for a job. Stay curious. If they like you, opportunities tend to come up on their own.
Small, cheap, fast
A good prototype costs an hour or a weekend, not a year. You are trying to learn whether a plan deserves a bigger bet, before you make it.
Framing a good questionBefore you brainstorm, get the question right
A brainstorm is only as good as the question it answers. A useful question for a life design brainstorm:
- Is open. Start with “How might I…” or “What are ways to…” so many answers are possible.
- Does not hide the answer. “How might I get an internship at a hospital?” already decided the prototype. “How might I find out what hospital operations work feels like?” leaves room for ten ideas.
- Is the right size. Not “How might I be happy?” and not “How might I email one person on Tuesday?”
- Ties to one Odyssey Plan. One plan, one question, one brainstorm.
This is the same move you practiced in IB 407 with How Might We questions. See How Might We for more examples.
Rules of brainstormingHow to run a short brainstorm with classmates
- Defer judgment. No “that won’t work” until the brainstorm is over.
- Go for quantity. Aim for 20 ideas in 10 minutes. The good ones usually show up after the obvious ones.
- Build on each other. “Yes, and…” beats “No, but…”
- Welcome wild ideas. A wild idea often points to a doable one next to it.
- One conversation at a time, and write everything down. Short phrases on sticky notes work best.
After the brainstorm, group the ideas and pick two or three you could do in the next month: at least one conversation and one experience. For more on ideation methods, see Ideation from IB 407.
Running a prototype conversationBefore, during and after
Before. Find people through warm paths first: professors, the Smith GLS and Haslam alumni networks, former managers, classmates’ families. Read about their organization so you do not spend their time on facts you could look up. Write four to six open questions.
During. Keep to the time you asked for. Let them tell the story. Follow up on anything that surprises you with “Tell me more about that.” Near the end, ask “Who else should I talk to?”
After. Send a thank-you within a day that names one thing you learned. Then write down, in your journal or tracker, what you now believe about the plan you were testing. Did the conversation make the plan more or less attractive? Why?
For networking messages, follow-up timing and staying in touch, see Networking and the Job Search.
Respect and ethicsTreat every conversation like a research interview
- Say who you are and why you are asking, every time.
- Ask before you take notes on a laptop, and never record without permission.
- Keep what people share in confidence. Do not repeat a person’s name and story in class without asking.
- Do not use AI tools on anyone’s personal details, and say so if AI helped you draft your messages, as the syllabus asks.
The habits you learned for consulting interviews apply here too. See Stakeholder Interviews and Ethics from BUAD 317.
Try it: Prototype Conversation Planner
Tool · BUAD 427
Prototype Conversation Planner
Plan a conversation that tests one of your Odyssey Plans, then track who you talk to.
- 1Plan
- 2Check
- 3Track
This conversation should answer
All checks
Preview your ask
Put it to work: your prototyping workbook assignments
In Dr. Lane Morris’s BUAD 427, prototyping is where your Odyssey Plans meet the real world. The Designing Your Life Workbook assignments for this part of the course are Framing a Good Question, Rules of Brainstorming and Brainstorm, Prototyping Your Plans and the Conversation Tracker. Workbook assignments are pass/fail and must be complete for credit, and your class preparation and participation are pass/fail too. Check Canvas and the syllabus for timing.
Choose the plan to test
Pick one of your three Odyssey Plans, usually the one that excites you most or worries you most. Write the question it raises.
Your deliverable: one testable question per plan in your workbook.
Frame a good question
Rewrite the question as an open “How might I…” question that does not hide the answer.
Your deliverable: the Framing a Good Question assignment.
Brainstorm, then pick
Brainstorm with two or three classmates using the rules. Pick at least one conversation and one experience you could do this month.
Your deliverable: the Rules of Brainstorming and Brainstorm assignment with your idea list.
Plan and track your conversations
Use the Prototype Conversation Planner to draft your ask and questions, then track who you contacted and who you thanked.
Your deliverable: the Prototyping Your Plans and Conversation Tracker assignments.
Bring it to class
Bring your framed question, your brainstorm list and one thing a prototype conversation taught you. Be ready to say how it changed your plan.
Your deliverable: your prepared contribution to the class discussion.
Do this, not thatHabits that make prototypes useful
Do this
- Test one plan at a time with one clear question.
- Ask for a story and a short amount of time.
- Talk with three or more people before you draw a conclusion.
- Try a small experience as well as conversations.
- Write down what you learned the same day, in your private journal.
Not that
- Treating a prototype conversation as a disguised job interview.
- Asking questions you could answer with a quick search.
- Deciding a whole career from one great or one awful conversation.
- Waiting until senior spring to talk to anyone.
- Sharing someone’s story in class without their permission.
Before you submitCheck your prototyping work
- [ ] One Odyssey Plan and one testable question are named.
- [ ] Your framed question is open and does not hide the answer.
- [ ] Your brainstorm has many ideas, including at least one conversation and one experience.
- [ ] Your ask is short, time-limited and asks for a story, not a job.
- [ ] You have four or more open questions, including “Who else should I talk to?”
- [ ] Your tracker shows at least three conversations planned or done, with thank-yous sent.
- [ ] You can say in one sentence how prototyping changed your plan.
Go deeper
Back to all BUAD 427 topics · Next: Choosing Well, Failure Immunity and Building Your Team
Part of BUAD 427 Designing Your Life and Career, taught by Lane Morris, PhD, in the Smith GLS human-centered leadership program, toward the Human Centered Consulting Certificate.
Frequently asked questions
What is a prototype conversation in Designing Your Life?
A prototype conversation is a short talk with someone already living a life or doing a job you are curious about. Bill Burnett and Dave Evans recommend it as a cheap way to test an Odyssey Plan. You ask for their story and what the work is really like, not for a job, and you end by asking who else you should talk to.
How is a prototype conversation different from an informational interview?
They are close cousins. Both are short conversations to learn about a career. A prototype conversation is tied to a specific life plan you are testing, so you go in with one clear question and come out deciding whether that plan deserves a bigger bet. It is a test of your idea, not general networking or a job request.
What questions should I ask in a prototype conversation?
Ask open questions only that person can answer. Good ones include how they got into this work, what a typical week looks like, what surprised them, what they wish they had known in their first year and who else you should talk to. Avoid yes or no questions and anything you could find with a quick search before the call.
What is a prototype experience?
A prototype experience is a small, hands-on try of a possible life or career. Examples include shadowing someone for an afternoon, doing a two-week project for a nonprofit, volunteering for one shift or taking a weekend workshop. It should be cheap, quick and easy to undo, so you learn how the work feels before you commit years to it.
How do I ask someone for a prototype conversation?
Use a warm path first, such as a professor, alumni network or former manager. Keep the message short: who you are, how you found them, why their path interests you and a request for a 20-minute call to hear their story. Do not ask for a job. Send a thank-you within a day that names one thing you learned.