If a Live Prototype is a quick look at how your solution behaves in the marketplace, a Pilot is a sustained engagement. Pilots can last months and will fully expose your solution to market forces. At this point you’re not testing an idea—should my product be green? do I need a different logo?—you’re testing an entire system. Ideally you’ll have run a few Live Prototypes before going to Pilot so that some of the kinks are worked out. During a Pilot you’ll fully execute on your idea finding out if it truly works the way you envisioned by running it with all the staff, space, and resources necessary. You’ll learn if your idea really is desirable, viable, and feasible, and what it might look like to do it at scale. If it’s a success, you’ll head to market.
