The four p’s - proof of concepts, prototypes, pilots (and MVP's)

There isn’t just one way to build an app. Agencies and other companies all have different approaches which can delivery amazing results. The amount of research, planning and design put into developing a product really does depend on the scope, timescales and the individuals delivering it. It can often become confusing as to what is really required and what isn’t. Especially when a lot of these stages sound the same.

I’ve seen these concepts mixed up many times, so I thought I should try and explain the key differences between some of them, and why they’re individually important.

Proof of Concept (POC)

Can it be done?

A POC is used to test the feasibility of a proposed solution. In a technical sense, this might attempting to create a rough implementation of a part of your product that you’re not sure is possible. By quickly building a working model, it’s easier to showcase the real-world potential and increase the possibility of your idea becoming a success. There’s no point investing too much time and money in something that may be impossible.

Prototype

What will it be?

Prototypes are a usually a visible representation of your new idea that can be used to test and demonstrate the product to stakeholders and users. Prototypes are quick and easy to create as they don’t need to be of production standard. They just need to give the impression of how it will work, helping people to properly visualize the final product. It allows you to quickly test and iterate over ideas without spending all the time required to build it for real.

There are many great prototyping tools available that allow you to quick navigate between flat designs in a way that makes it feel like a real app.

Pilot

Is it ready for release?

A pilot is the first version of a product, rolled-out in advance of mainstream release and usually only to a small, controlled group. This makes gathering feedback easier and can lead to improvement of the service rapidly without disappointing any future customers.

Pilots are invaluable for ironing out those last few issues. They give companies a greater level of confidence before releasing a product to the wider market. A pilot could also be your MVP.

Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

An MVP is the smallest version of your product that is worth releasing. It’s a concept from Lean Startup and, in essence, it teaches us not to spend too much time developing every part of a product before testing with real world users. The faster you get your product out there, the sooner you can gather feedback and make changes based on what your customers actually want.

So, start thinking about what’s the smallest version of your idea that will be useful to your users, and let’s get building!

We talk more about MVP’s in our article “The Real MVP”. Why not read it now?