PoC, Prototype or MVP: choosing the right strategy for your software project
Implementation of the new software idea is often a worrying process requiring a clear understanding of project goals, rational decision-making and resource optimization. If you want to mitigate possible risks and errors at an early stage, you can consider adopting one of the software realization strategies: Proof of Concept (PoC), Prototype or Minimum Viable Product (MVP). What is the difference and what will be the most suitable for your project?
Proof of Concept (PoC)
PoC is designed to verify the feasibility of a project idea. It is a great way to understand whether your idea is workable in terms of technology capabilities. This approach is suitable for verifying small projects or testing a new specific component of a large software system. It doesn’t require much time and money and can give you information only about whether it is possible or no.
Usually, teams use PoC like a product draft and don’t show it to the publicity. Working on PoC allows team members to share their technical knowledge, helps to find and explore emerging technology solutions, simplifies project requirements identification. This way they form a clear project idea clear and make it ready for sharing with investors. If the idea is workable and appreciated by the stakeholders you can move on to the creation of MVP solution or development of a fully-featured software product.
Prototype
A prototype approach is useful if you want to test a concept considering usability and design. It will help you to identify the effectiveness of UI/UX and improve user experience in advance. Usually, prototypes look like models or samples that consist of wireframes, design layouts, mock-ups, etc. You can use visual or functional prototypes depending on the purpose and required depth of interaction. Both of them will provide you and your stakeholders with an understanding of workflow.
A prototype can help you to share complex ideas in a simple and convenient format. It is a great way to present your future product to your stakeholders giving them a clear understanding of how it will work for the end-users. When you move on to the development process you can use the created prototype as a basis for UI of your software product.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
MVP development allows you to create market-ready software with the basic set of features that fulfill users' needs. Working on MVP can help you to prioritize the features of your product and not to overload your software with unnecessary functionality. Take note that MVP development requires more technical expertise unlike PoC and Prototype so you may need the help of a skilled development team.
The greatest MVP advantage is an ability to deliver your product to the early users and get the truthful feedback about its functionality and design. It will help you to better understand your audience, their preferences and needs. Testing your product in real market conditions also gives an opportunity to get revenue that can be a significant bonus for startups and companies with a limited budget. In case of a successful release, you can go ahead and develop a full-fledged software product.
All these strategies can be used both independently or together depending on the specific needs of your software project. Identify what do you want to verify and what production readiness do you expect to choose the most suitable approach. If you need help in creating PoC, Prototype or MVP to test your project idea, the Exposit team is always ready to help.
