Teaching Prototyping with Back to the Future and Self-Lacing Shoes

Using the case of the self-lacing shoe to teach prototype design and DFV-I

By Nick Scott

Prototyping is a powerful tool and mindset that can help public servants to collaborate with segments of the public to create effective solutions. It is an approach that allows us to materialize ideas and think collectively with our hands. Sometimes the urge to jump from idea to pilot results in unintended consequences, sunk costs, and unforeseen challenges in scaling our solutions. Prototyping helps us counter these risks by making ideas tangible, allowing us to test and de-risk them before investing. As a bonus, it can save a lot of time, too! Alex Ryan once shared that a prototype is worth a thousand meetings. Therefore, it’s important we share this skill in the public service.

In a previous role at NouLAB (New Brunswick’s Public and Social Innovation Lab), we taught and applied prototype design as a practice to help build the capacity of innovators to solve our most pressing challenges. Initially, I struggled to grasp the concept of prototyping in a social innovation context, but thanks to the “Abstract” Docuseries on Netflix, the narrative of the self-lacing shoe became an effective way of communicating the concepts of Desirability, Feasibility, Viability, and Impact (DFV-I).

Back to the Future featured many imaginative future technologies. Tinker Hatfield, a Nike shoe designer, contributed to these concepts and proposed the idea of self-lacing shoes – the Nike MAG. While stagehands simulated their operation in the movie, showcasing a low-fidelity concept, the portrayal demonstrated the shoes' potential workings without actual functionality. Fans of the movie LOVED this idea, and along with the hoverboard, have not lost hope that they will one day come to fruition.

Do people desire self-lacing shoes? Yes.

Desirability ✅

As technology progressed, designers and engineers began crafting and testing prototype versions. While these versions often demonstrated technical feasibility, they were frequently large and expensive, making a market-ready product economically unviable. Nonetheless, they proved the concept. In 2011 the tech was still too expensive for a market viable product, but Nike produced a limited series of the shoes to raise funds for Parkinsons in Michael J. Fox's name.

Are self-lacing shoes technically feasible? Yes.

Feasibility ✅

At this point, the shoes are more of a fun, novel thing than an innovation with impact. However, with technological advancements yielding lighter and more affordable components, the concept has started showing signs of economic viability.

Are self-lacing shoes economically viable? Arguably, yes.

Viability ✅

Research on a user segment, professional basketball players, revealed a significant problem: their tightly laced, supportive footwear hindered circulation, leading to foot injuries. Nike's innovation journey, driven by playful blue-sky thinking and idetaion, led them to develop a prototype - the Hyperadapt - a self-lacing shoe that loosened during rest and tightened instantly during action. This innovation put Nike ahead of competitors and effectively addressed a pressing issue for one of their largest user segments.

Will a self-lacing shoe have impact? Yes.

Impact ✅

Acknowledging that DFV-I is part of a non-linear, iterative learning process, I believe sequencing can help participants to focus and better understand the concepts practically. When teaching prototyping, I encourage participants to generate wild ideas for desirability testing. It's essential for teams to avoid getting stuck in feasibility or viability discussions during the discovery phase. If they do, then they often end up debating whether or not an idea is possible and striving to implement concepts that fit within the status quo. Instead, I encourage them to think and act like Tripp, to envision the seemingly impossible and demonstrate how it might work. If it's desirable, it provides the motivation to pursue the hunch. When feasibility is demonstrated, these same individuals might drive support for a minimum viable product/program.

How do you approach facilitating prototyping? Have you encountered any novel teaching methods or activities?