[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXfRbwPyGfg&w=560&h=349]

You know what sucks? Getting too involved in a development project only to realize, “Uggh, I have to rip out so much work. I can’t do it this way.” One possible solution is heavy prototyping and rapid iterative development in HTML5. That was the subject of a presentation by the team at Archetype (Left to right in video: Eric Anderson, senior creative engineer; Mike Lucaccini, president; Guido Rosso, CCO; and Danny Riddell, CEO). I spoke to at Silicon Valley Code Camp. They offered the following advice for rapid HTML5 iteration.

• Build a creative process that divides up the HTML5 process into smaller chunks.
• In the early stages, create rapid prototypes you can show off to each other internally, and to the customer.
• Once a chunk has been evaluated and approved, keep adding little pieces.
• When you have to step back, which you will, you’ll only need to take baby steps since you’ve been testing and refining the small chunks. The key is to not take massive production time to get to each piece.
• Often you’re just testing a certain element or methodology and then adding to it.
• For a big project Archetype did for Red Bull, they needed to understand the video and interaction model within HTML5. To start, they prototyped each aspect of the interface. They quickly learned what worked and what didn’t, which allowed them to shift quickly to find a solution.
• If you start out simply you’ll discover trouble spots quickly.
• Have a design and development team with a core understanding of the work required to finish a job. All designers at Archetype are familiar with HTML5, so they knew what is and isn’t possible. Knowing the boundaries helps you push the technology to its limits.