Test an app idea with a clickable prototype

A product team is discussing a neighborhood plant exchange. Everyone agrees that it needs listings, but they disagree about the first trade: does a person choose a plant to offer before contacting the grower, or after? A clickable prototype makes that disagreement testable.

Use this when the sequence matters more than a polished specification. Connected screens let someone try a task and show you where the idea stops making sense. Keep the first prototype focused on one journey, such as finding a listing and proposing a swap.

The short version

Choose one user journey and list its starting point and outcome. Ask for connected screens with sample content. Try the plant-swap example and follow its trade flow. Use what you learn to change the confusing step in your own prototype.

Describe the journey and the boundaries

Include the actions people need, the sample records they should see, and what counts as a completed test. Make simulated interactions explicit so a reviewer knows what they are evaluating.

Build a clickable phone-style prototype for a neighborhood plant swap.
Use fictional plants and neighbors. Let a reviewer browse a feed,
inspect a plant's care details, save it, and propose a trade by selecting
a plant to offer and a suggested meetup date. Include a sample trade
conversation screen to test the layout. Label it as simulated content,
with no external messages. Add a listing form and a saved-plants view.

For creating the app and deciding who can use or see its saved records, follow Build a live app on your canvas. Treat the prompt as a design brief; the example is an illustration of the approach.

Explore the plant exchange

The example presents phone-style flows for browsing plants, proposing a trade, listing a plant, and keeping a private saved bench. It includes feed and map views and sample screens for swap coordination.

1. Open a plant from the feed and inspect its care information. Start a trade request and look at the offered-plant and meetup fields. Consider whether you have enough information to make that choice.
2. Bookmark a plant and open Bench. Compare returning to a saved item with searching for the same listing again.

The preview uses disposable sample data that resets on reload. Its neighbors and coordination screens are illustrative; interactions do not contact anyone or send external messages.

Ask for the change the test revealed

Give reviewers a task without narrating every tap. If they hesitate, record the step and ask for a focused revision:

Show the selected plant and the plant being offered together before
the trade confirmation. Add an Edit action beside each choice. Keep
the existing browsing and saved-plants flows.

Before presenting the prototype, test back navigation, canceling a request, and an empty saved view. Label simulated behavior clearly. A successful prototype test tells you whether the journey makes sense; connecting real messaging, maps, or other services is a separate piece of product work.