the.com/mockup

A pretend version that looks real enough to argue about before anyone builds it.

means A visual or physical model of a design used to preview and test it before committing to production.

from From 'mock' (to imitate, from Old French mocquer, to deride) plus 'up' — a thing put together in imitation, dating to early 1900s industrial and theatrical use.

WWII rootsFull-scale wooden planes built to fool enemy reconnaissance.
Fidelity scaleRanges from rough sketch to indistinguishable-from-final.
Not a prototypeMockups look right; prototypes actually work.
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