PoC, MVP and Prototype: Which is the best approach for your mobile app development project?

On the app development journey, you will come across the option of creating a Proof of Concept (PoC), prototype, and Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Of course, you don't have to build all of them. Whichever you will create depends on your business's needs and purpose.

Since the 3 concepts are all relevant to app development, many businesses have trouble differentiating them. In fact, PoC, prototype and MVP are quite different. Here is how you can differentiate and utilize them to best serve your needs.

Proof of Concept: Validate Your Tech Idea

A Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small project to verify that some tech concepts (method, technology, integration, etc.) are implementable.

A proof of concept is used to determine whether an idea can be produced without investing excessive money or time. It simply evaluates essential functionality. If your concept is complicated, you will need to create several proofs of concept (POCs) to verify each capability.

User experience (UX) is pushed aside when you build a POC because it will consume lots of time and effort.

Features of a Proof of Concept

• Catch Early Investor Interest – Presenting your idea with a PoC to investors may help acquire seed funding for further development.
• Check possibility – Innovation often tends to happen at the intersection of technological viability and market demand. A POC will help you check if your idea can be built using currently available technology.
• Save Time? – With a PoC, you can easily check if your idea is technically possible to build, and prevent wasted resources.
• Select The Tech Stack – Creating many POCs using different technologies let you decide which technology stack is the most efficient for your project. This way, you’ll know exactly early on what’s possible as you move forward and how to structure your product’s roadmap in the future.
• Use for Competitor Analysis – In a competitive market, you need to make your idea stand out. A POC will help you validate unique features in your product as well as a unique approach to solving the same problem.

Prototype: Visualise Your Idea

A Prototype is an interactive visualization of your future product that demonstrates user flows and the main design elements that you will interact with.

A prototype is where your product’s design begins to take shape and form. A PoC evaluates the technical side, then, a prototype answers the question of how the product will look and feel.

Creating a prototype relies on a cross-functional team effort where UI and UX designers, developers, and product owners align on the product’s design. You can utilize prototypes to define what UI elements should be included and understand how the user will interact with them.

Features of a Prototype

• Convince Investors – A prototype is a great way to get investors to consider and back your product, especially in the later state of fundraising.
• Optimize Your Resources – When you start with a prototype, you can identify UI elements that may have flaws and should be removed before entering the development phase.
• Iterate Designs – Interactive prototyping tools such as Figma help designers create multiple iterations in a relatively short time. From there, it would be easy to select the most potential designs and run internal evaluations.
• Gather Feedback – A prototype aids in getting initial feedback. User testing in this phase can go a long way to improving and helping you chisel out the design while having plenty of time to fix flaws.
• Polish Idea – With a prototype, you can simplify your product idea and transform it into a visually appealing format. A prototype will give the idea a more refined form if a proof of concept confirms the idea can be built.

Minimum Viable Product: Solve the Problem

A Minimum Viable Product is a Product that has a minimum set of features to satisfy early customers and collect feedback for further future development.

There are many definitions of a minimum viable product, and, truth be told, there’s no definite one. An MVP for one project might have a different purpose for another:

In other words, an MVP depends on the context of your product and organization. One company’s minimum set of features might amount to a complex application in another’s eyes.

A minimum viable product helps you measure the demand and product-market fit – whether your product attracts early adopters and satisfies them.

An MVP should contain the minimum number of features that still make your product marketable. Remember, the goal is to collect and analyze user-generated data and feedback.

And to do that, you must remember that minimal doesn’t mean inferior or straightforward. That’s often misunderstood. While an MVP has only the core functionalities, it should be a high-quality, unique, well-performing release of your product.

Features of an MVP

• Collect User Feedback – An MVP is an excellent tool to find out what your early users think about your product, and learn from their feedback to improve the product’s next versions.
• Save Resources and Money – Since you don’t have to implement all features into your MVP, the development work is reduced. Also, by analyzing user feedback, you can build a clear product roadmap and development route. The risk of over-building features will be minimized. A minimum viable product also allows you to introduce gradual product expansion, meaning you start working on another release after you have secured funding.
• Attract Investors – While a POC and a prototype can help raise seed funding, an MVP can help you gain major investment. After all, if your MVP gains traction and raises positive feedback, investors would be more convinced to financially support your business idea.
• Monetize – an MVP allows you to acquire paying users to further support your growth and development plan.

To decide whether PoC, prototype or MVP is your best option, please read the full article here: https://savvycomsoftware.com/blog/poc-mvp-prototype/

#poc #prototype #mvp #savvycom?#appdevelopment?#appdevelopmentcompany?#appdevelopmentcosts?#informationtechnology

-----------------------------------------------------------------

For updated information about the latest tech trends, please follow and like Savvycom on Facebook and LinkedIn:

?? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savvycom

?? LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/frPHehW

?? Email:?[email protected]