prototype
A prototype is a half-baked artifact pretending to be final, yet ready to collapse at any moment. It is the developer’s talisman against practical criticism and the user’s invitation to public mockery. Convenient to unveil but not guaranteed to perform, it awaits the trial by user-testing. It embodies the ghost town at the intersection of ambition and reality. Use it to impress stakeholders, then pray it doesn’t break in the wild.