Crucial to the success of any technology project is getting feedback from users and interested groups (like the technology and management committees!) Sounds easy, but during the early phases of the project when feedback will have the greatest affect at the lowest cost, users are the least equipped to provide it. At an early stage of the project, we assume that users will have the imagination to envision the final product and how they can use it. This assumption is wrong, however, because while users are imaginative in their own ways, they are not when it comes to designing and implementing new technology.

To overcome this lack of imagination and get better feedback early when it costs less to make changes, the user needs to be "mocked," and mocked often. They need mock-ups, prototypes, and other visual aids to help them conceive the finish project and how it will integrate into their work. These aids don't need to be elaborate: sketches, diagrams, wireframes, and simple proof-of-concept demonstrators often bridge the gap between conceptualizing the proposed idea and the finished product. A simple mock-up is often enough to spur valuable ideas from your test users and groups that will make the finished product much more useful. As the project progresses, you can provide more iterations of prototypes and demonstrators leading to alpha and beta tests. By providing low cost mock-ups early on, costly revisions when the project is nearly completed can be avoided.