Process

Ask first, then build.

The steps change from project to project. Asking first doesn’t. Here’s how it could go on a ketchup bottle everyone has thumped. Try it first.

Pick a problem

Ketchup bottleA physical problemShowing

Fig. 1Try it: get some ketchup on the fries

The fries are ready. Tap the bottle to get some ketchup.

Step 1

Ask

The brief says “get it out faster”. Before any pixels, I ask why it’s slow at all. Every answer changes the brief a little.

Fig. 2Why is it stuck?

the openinghow far the ketchup has to travelthe ketchup

The briefGet the ketchup out faster.
Why? 1Why is it so slow?Ketchup is thick, and it sits at the bottom, as far from the opening as it can get.
Why? 2What do people do?Flip it, shake it, thump the glass. Then wait.
Why? 3When is it worst?The last third of every bottle. Plenty gets thrown away.
Why? 4What do people already do about it?Restaurants store bottles upside down, balanced on their caps.

The real briefThe ketchup should already be at the opening.

Step 2

I describe the options to Claude and get prototypes I can click, not boxes to imagine.

Fig. 3Three fixes, built to be clicked

Ketchup bottle · prototypesClaude

Everyone shakes the ketchup bottle. The real problem: the ketchup is never at the opening. Sketch three fixes I can click through.

Here are three quick prototypes. Each one is clickable:

Step 3

The winner is a bottle that stands on its cap. Then the catch: won’t it leak?

Fig. 4The obvious fix has a catch

1 · The ideaStand it on its capThe ketchup waits at the opening.
2 · The catchIt leaksUpside down, it drips onto the table.
the valve3 · The fixAdd a slit valveShut until you squeeze. It sucks back when you let go.

Step 4

A handoff covers every moment in the bottle’s life, not just the first pour.

Fig. 5What the factory gets

PourOne squeeze, and it comes straight out.

StandingOn its cap, so the ketchup waits at the opening.

No dripLet go, and the valve pulls the last drop back.

Nearly emptyThe last third still comes out first time.

In the fridgeIt stands the same way on the door shelf.

To: the factoryIn the handoff

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