What are PoC, Prototype and MVP? What fits most with the company’s product?

Product success is a combination of proper market adaptation and careful testing during product development.

One of the first steps on this path is idea validation. It may seem trivial, but you can (and will) avoid a lot of problems later by validating your ideas before you dive headfirst into development.

The three most common approaches to testing the assumptions behind an idea are creating proofs of concept, prototypes, and minimally viable products. Each has its own advantages and works best in certain cases. If you're wondering how they work and how they differ, here's an overview to help you find the perfect fit.

1/ Which is better: a proof of concept, a prototype, or an MVP?

What exactly is a "proof of concept" (PoC)?

A proof of concept is a feasibility study conducted at a specific stage of a project before developing a full-scale product. This is a small internal standalone project aimed at verifying that core functionality or technical assumptions are actually implementable and working as intended.

A proof of concept helps validate that the technical skills, tools, and resources needed to make an idea work are feasible. Used for internal purposes, the PoC largely ignores user interface, security, and development best practices. Code is rarely reused in later stages of development, so it is often hard-coded using mock APIs and basic UI controls.

What is Prototype?

A prototype is an early product pattern intended to illustrate your enterprise idea earlier than imposing it. It simplifies your product concept into an without difficulty digestible layout to show its value.

Prototyping facilitates the filling of any gaps in your idea and knowledge, as well as meeting all wishes and specifications. It's a time- and cost-saving answer that lets you adapt and enhance your product idea primarily based totally on consumer checking out and feedback.

Prototyping is a superb preference for showcasing your product's design. It also provides an understanding of the complex algorithms and procedures that the machine requires. Depending on your goal, a prototype can be:

• Functional: It imitates one or multiple product functions.
• Display: It makes speciality of the appearance and sense of the product

A proof of concept (POC) tests whether a particular concept can be implemented from a technical perspective. Essentially, the POC submission method should have a clear end goal in mind and demonstrate whether it can achieve that goal. Implementing this process will enable everyone involved to answer the following questions: Can you build this?

1.1. Proof-of-concept in app development

When should you pursue a proof of concept?

Various aspects can influence when proof of concept is sought. Product specifications dictate them and help form the concept that each is testing. Here you are:

Has anyone done this before you?

Applying a proof-of-concept method is mandatory if there is nothing on the market that matches your product. It is in your best interest to make sure your plan has practical potential in the real world with real users.

Will your product venture into uncharted territory?

We recommend reviewing all innovative feature requests from customers before planning the entire project. You can also ask us to perform a technical risk assessment of your product specification to help determine which features should be checked first.

If someone has performed these functions before, there are comparable products on the market. In this case, there is no point in testing functions that have already been proven. Now, let's go to the next question.

Are your competitors doing this?

Knowing what's out there goes hand in hand with understanding what your competitors are doing.

Let's say you're building a product for a market that already has some competitors (your product probably falls into this category, to be honest).

Your product has similar features to those of your competitors, but you choose features to give it a distinct edge. This is a feature that we recommend doing a-of-proof of concept pilot. After all, we want your competitive advantage to perform as expected.

Are your products based on new technology?

New technologies such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) have redefined what people can accomplish in their daily lives. If your product has core functionality based on any of these new technologies, you should review these features. Whether it's an AR-powered mental health product or an automatic transcription service, you need core functionality that meets your users' expectations of what they're getting.

1.2. Prototype in app development.

Before you start designing prototypes, there are three types of prototypes you should know about. Which type you use depends on how much information you are working with and what your end goal is.

Pen and paper prototype

The pen-and-paper prototype is exactly what the name suggests. Instead of reaching for digital tools, stick to pen and paper to sketch the first iteration of your product. If you work in a team, you'll probably replace paper with a whiteboard. Paper prototypes are great for:

Explore features

Replicate a competitor's functionality and understand the building blocks Coordinate with the team before starting deeper work.

Interactive lo-fi prototype

A low-fidelity interactive prototype (or wireframe prototype) uses a product description or a paper prototype you have on hand to demonstrate product functionality and operation.

It is structured with minimal emphasis on typography and symbolism, with no emphasis on color, imagery, or illustration. Instead, it focuses on features and in-app copy to demonstrate how the product works in real-world situations.

Wireframe prototypes are great for visualizing and confirming product functionality. Wrap it up in a prototyping tool and use it to gather early user feedback. You can search for things like:

• Do users understand the different actions they can take on each screen?
• Are people using your product as you intended?
• Is your copy clear and consistent?
• Do users see value in what your product offers? If you receive conflicting or negative opinions on any of these points, you are in the early stages of the process of making changes at a nominal cost.

Interactive High Fidelity Prototype

If you want realism, your goal is an interactive, high-fidelity prototype. In this case, the UI designer takes the flow, functionality, and structure visible in the wireframe prototype and brings them to life.

No, it's not Frankenstein.

The designer determines her palette of colors and the building blocks of various elements. Add photos and uniform icons, and redesign each screen in technicolor.

It also determines the micro-interactions and animations that users see as feedback when using the product. Buttons that change color, cards that open and close, and screens that swipe left and right are all interaction designer realms.

1.3. The Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Convenient, easy to use and fun MVP

There are three levels of product success. It combines how convenient, easy to use, and fun the product is. These terms have specific meanings in product design, so let's clarify them a bit.

How small should the MVP be?

An MVP is the most basic, core, and value-oriented form of the product you bring to market. Then observe and learn from the insights it generates about your target audience and business goals.

Gain insight by looking at your competitors

The answer lies in what your competitors are doing. If you're building an on-demand delivery app, you want something special compared to DoorDash, FoodPanda, or Glovo. When building productivity apps, you need to find a niche that sets you apart from Fabulous and Evernote.

If you're building a financial app, you need something different than Revolut or Apple Card. Alternatively, you can switch to another market in which you do not directly compete.

Also see what is profitable in the market

There are ways to keep your MVP with minimal effort, but you can't make a profit on the market. If your product doesn't hold up well enough on its own, you'll need to justify further investment. You should either turn the problem around or approach it differently.

The nice things about these methods are:

• Doing a proof-of-concept for tricky features or making prototypes available to users early on makes the live MVP experience better than jumping in the water.

A "pre-prototype project," used to determine whether it is possible to implement a particular feature and have the product work at the same time. The prototype, on the other hand, focuses on the full functionality of all included features. This is used to test changes contained in the proof of concept and refine them before the full production release.

2. What is the difference between a POC and an MVP?

The difference between a proof of concept and a minimally viable product is that the purpose is different. A PoC gives a rationale for an idea for a solution or a specific feature. Meanwhile, the MVP implements features developed in his proof of concept and prototype stages.

Comparing proof of concept and MVP

PoC vs. MVP is like idea drafting and idea realization. A proof of concept outlines the technology of the solution and examines the idea's potential risks and technical issues. used to analyze potential market demand for products. On the contrary, MVPs are created primarily to see how customers react to your solution.

What is the difference between a prototype and an MVP?

Simply put, the main differences are:

• Range
• Engagement
• Audience

Prototype and MVP have very different scopes. A prototype is something that you can spend very little time and effort on. The idea is to develop a large number of prototypes so that ideas can be quickly changed, adapted, and discarded.

With MVP, you've picked an idea and implemented it. In other words, you have to put in a little more effort. It uses more resources and may involve more people. Because the scope is different, the level of engagement is also different.

Once you've invested time and resources into your MVP, you're less likely to abandon it entirely. The whole concept of MVP is based on the ability to change cheaply and quickly, but completely stripping MVP and starting over is still a pain.

With a prototype, it's as easy as crumpling up a piece of paper and starting over. A more complex prototype will certainly require more resources, but it will require less commitment than a fully realized MVP.

Prototypes and MVPs are also aimed at different audiences. Prototypes are primarily for internal use and are intended for your team and other users within your company. At best, they'll pass them on to the press to create a stir or use them for crowdfunding purposes.

As we have seen, MVPs are introduced into target markets to assess their acceptance. After all, the P stands for product. MVP is what the public judges you for, and what people will remember when moving to V2.

3. Do you want a proof-of-concept, a prototype, or an MVP for your next app?

The thing to remember is that you can't just take one approach. All three methods are used by product development teams to make informed decisions based on validated hypotheses. Your efforts will save money and bring to market a product with the highest chance of success.