That's significantly less than Microsoft spent developing the product. Another example that Schrage described was requirements analysis for software development. He explained that the classical way of doing this was by interviewing users, acquiring a long list of needs, and then developing a prototype. They agree that the software is just what they asked for, but change their minds. They are perfectly happy to throw away your work.
People have difficulty articulating what it is they really want in terms of requirements.
It's because of these kinds of miscommunications. Show that to people and then, switch to prototype-driven specs. If you suck your client or customer into iterating with you in the prototype, the chances are they will be a little more reluctant to throw away their work. You basically end up with software that's faster, cheaper and makes customers happier. He also pointed out that new modeling media and rapid prototyping can strengthen business relationships, improve decision-making processes and enhance the likelihood of successful outcomes.