Design and Prototype Development Process. Ins and Outs a Product Owner Should Know About

When you decide to build an app from scratch, it’s better to break up the entire process to several product development stages. To make sure your product turns out great, it's important to go through each step carefully. In this article, we'll talk about the role of prototyping in product development, and go over the main steps to create one. We'll also show you how Apiko developers create prototypes for our clients.

What is prototype development?

Prototype is a first draft of a product created to check how well it works and how easy it is to use before it's officially launched. Prototypes help the product owner figure out if the idea has what it takes to meet user needs and do well in the market.

Prototypes let you test and improve the design and features before going all-in on the final product. They are handy for trying out different designs and features, and getting feedback from potential customers.

Stages of design and prototype development

Here are stages of the prototype development process that will help you create functional prototypes and launch a successful product. ?

Define your market niche and analyze competitors

Dig in the industry you’re dealing with or going to engage your project in. This step includes answering how to create a strong value proposition for your product question and figuring out who your potential customers will be.

To get slightly closer to your user’s needs and pains, try to reflect on your buyer persona portraits, what kind of industry they deal with, what their preferences are, what their possible expectations from utilizing your services. Then you’ll need to analyze your competitors and decide what makes you stand out of the crowd and unique.

Figure out the app's functionality

After you’re done with the previous prototype stage, try to brainstorm the working mechanism behind your product. Decide upon the app’s business model and the way it’s going to supply users with its major functionality in a simple way. The most crucial part at this stage is to sketch out the efficient functionality model.?

Start the prototype development

When you have figured out the product requirements and key features, you are ready to start the prototyping process.

Your first prototype might consist of a series of digital drawings made by professional designers. These first prototypes are simple and quick designs which allow you to take a glimpse on how the future product will look like and make fast changes.?

Create a functional prototype

When you're done with the previous phases of prototyping, it's time to create a functional prototype. A functional prototype is a working model of a product. Depending on the requirements of the prototype project, the you may include only some or all features of the product. This type of the prototype shows you how the main components and features work together, and allows you to gather feedback from investors or potential users. ?

Do prototype testing

At this stage of prototype product development, you can perform various kinds of tests. If you decide to release the beta version of your product and/or hire a skillful quality assurance team , you will be able to conduct A/B testing and see if your product is competitive enough in its niche.?

Iterate if needed

If there’s an improvement to do or feature to add, return to the prototyping phase and upgrade your app. Then, again, allow your target audience to test the functionality once again. The best way to avoid dissatisfaction is to let your potential customers use the app before launch and take their feedback into account.

Prepare for the release

When you're done with the prototype development process and ready to release the final version of the product, keep in mind the following recommendations:

• Make sure you’ve fixed bugs, noticed in the beta-version release, if you did such type of release, of course.
• List the products on AppStore and Google Play if these are mobile apps. If you’re about to lead an active marketing campaign for your mobile product, it’s recommended to create a website for your project and spread the word about it across any relevant channel.

These are the prototyping steps to pave through in order to create a full-fledged, self-sufficient product. The role of prototype in product development is crucial for considering the points of view of your customers and trying out new ideas.

Prototype development process at Apiko

At?Apiko , we emphasize collaboration with our clients during the preliminary development stage.

• Defining project requirements. We get introduced to the issue our customer is trying to solve and the industry our client is engaged into. The specifics of your business are of great importance here, since the more details you provide us with, the more recommendations and services we can offer you.
• Defining a tech stack. The next thing is we together do the research and agree upon a tech solution for a certain feature or the entire solution. At this stage, our customer and us decide which features are must-have for their business and we estimate the durability and price of the app development . We try to advise you on the technology choice, which can help you create a strong value proposition.
• Wireframing and prototyping. We create clickable wireframes and design prototypes of your product to take a look at it in real life. If we agree upon wireframes we can proceed with the design part. This is a part where a lot of changes related to the technology choice and/or business point of view can be made. If we reach the agreement on the preliminary development stage, we can move to the product development itself.?
• Product development. During the product development, we make sure that your app meets all the project requirements, legal regulations, and industry standards for user experience, testing, and quality assurance. We provide our clients with user acceptance testing, software quality assurance, and continuous support with technical documentation.?

Our collaboration model ensures tight cooperation between UI/UX, marketing and development departments.

To sum up

If the project is curated wisely from the very beginning, there’re no doubts that it can turn to be a true phenomenon on the market. At Apiko, we’re always open to discuss prototyping in product development and advise you on your digital solution.