A case is made for using low-fidelity prototypes early in the design phase of new services. The rationale for this is based upon (1) a model of how user interface designs progress and (2) a call to expediency. The design process is viewed as the successive application of constraints that serve to prune the space of all user interfaces. Some constraints are external (i.e., placed on the service by limits of technology or cost). Other constraints are derived by application of heuristic design principles. Even after these constraints have been applied, the design is still not fully constrained and the designer must make high-level design decisions. At these choice points, I propose that low-fidelity prototyping is an appropriate means of gathering design information as it is an expedient solution and may serve as a method of testing the central tendency of entire classes of user interfaces.