When should you move from idea prototyping to product development?

1 The purpose of prototyping

Prototyping is not just about creating a physical or digital model of your idea. It is also about discovering what your target market, competitors, and assumptions are teaching you. Through prototyping, you can answer questions such as what problem you are solving and for whom, what value you are offering and how to communicate it, which features and benefits are essential or nice to have, how to differentiate yourself from other solutions, and how to validate your idea and measure its success. Prototyping can help you save resources that would be wasted on constructing something that nobody wants or needs. Additionally, it can help you make improvements to your idea based on real feedback and data.

2 The types of prototyping

Depending on the stage of your idea and the goal of your testing, there are various types of prototyping you can use. Paper prototyping is a quick and inexpensive way to visualize your idea and receive feedback on the design, layout, and functionality. Mockup prototyping, meanwhile, uses tools like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD to create a more realistic and interactive version of your idea to test the user interface, experience, and flow. Lastly, functional prototyping utilizes tools like Bubble, Webflow, or Glide to create a working version of your idea that you can launch and test with real users to assess its functionality, performance, and feasibility.

3 The criteria for moving on

When to move from prototyping to product development is not a straightforward answer, as it depends on the specific idea, market, and goals. Nevertheless, there are some criteria that can help decide. Firstly, you need to validate the problem-solution fit; this includes confirming that there is a real problem that your target market faces and that your idea is a viable solution for it. Additionally, you should validate the product-market fit; this means confirming that there is a significant demand for your solution and that your target market is willing to pay for it. Lastly, you need to validate the business model; this includes confirming that you can generate revenue and profit from your solution and have a sustainable and scalable way of delivering it.

4 The challenges of moving on

Moving from prototyping to product development is not a simple or straightforward process. You must make trade-offs and face challenges such as choosing the right technology stack, finding the right team, and managing the scope and timeline. When selecting a technology stack, you should consider factors such as functionality, scalability, security, compatibility, and cost. When deciding on a team, you need to take into account skills, experience, availability, and culture fit. Additionally, when managing the scope and timeline of your product development project, you should assess priorities, dependencies, risks, and changes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?