Imagine you have a brilliant idea about a innovative product you design this product, develop and launch it, but your customers aren’t interested! Or you start making it and realize that the technology involved isn’t ready yet, or doesn’t exist: again, that’s guaranteed failure.
This is a common problem for all companies that want to innovate: every year more than 30,000 new consumer products are brought to market, but only 20% of them succeed. How can you make sure your idea isn’t among the 80% that fail?
A proof of concept is an initial test but also the validation of the very idea of the product — and it is an important part of the equation. Developing a proof of concept is a way to test, refine, and demonstrate the future success of your product. In this article we will explain what a proof of concept is, and how to create and test your proof of concept.
Proof of concept vs prototype: what are the differences?
Proof of concept – definition
A proof of concept (abbreviated “POC” from the English “proof of concept”) is a small exercise intended to test an idea or a design hypothesis.
The main objective of developing a POC is to demonstrate functionality while verifying a particular concept or theory that can be effectively implemented in product development.
While a POC is designed solely to verify the functionality of a single concept or a set of concepts to be unified within other systems, the possibility of using it in the real world is not even considered when creating a proof of concept, because integrating technologies is not only time-consuming but can also weaken the ability to determine whether the underlying principle is viable. This exercise aims to identify the product’s features and feasibility, as well as its relevance, before launching into development.
Prototype — definition
The prototyping is a completely different exercise. It is also valuable because it allows you to visualize how the product will work. It is a “real”, interactive, and functional model of the final product that gives an idea of its design. While a POC shows that a product or a feature can be developed, a prototype shows how it will be developed.
A prototype is a first attempt to build a functional model that can be usable in the real world and validate the POC. If things go wrong during prototyping, that’s not a disaster: identifying design problems is one of the main objectives of building a prototype. A prototype has almost all the features of the final product, but it will generally not be as efficient, as well-designed aesthetically, or as durable.
The main objectives of a proof of concept
1. Capture the interest of early investors
You can create a POC in order to present your idea to investors with the aim of obtaining the necessary funds for further development.
2. Innovate
Innovation happens at the intersection of technological viability and market demand. A POC will help you verify if your idea can be built using current technology and whether it meets a need likely to find an audience.
3. Save time
When you check whether your idea can be built before anything else, you save time: the time that would be lost if you had to solve technical viability problems after hired developers and devoted considerable resources.
4. Choose a technology
Creating multiple POCs using different technologies can help you decide which is best suited to your project. That way you'll know very early what is possible as you progress and how to structure your product roadmap.
5. Study the competition
If you plan to launch a product in a highly competitive market, a proof of concept will help you validate your offering's features. Your product will need a unique approach to solve the same problem as your competitors, to be a better alternative to what already exists.
The main objectives of a prototype
1. Convince investors
A prototype is an excellent way to get investors to consider and support your product, especially during the fundraising phase.
2. Optimize resources
When you start with a prototype, you can identify elements that are flawed and need to be removed before development work begins.
3. Iterate designs
Prototyping tools help designers create many design iterations in a relatively short time. You can then choose the best-performing design and run internal experiments.
4. Gather feedback
A prototype allows you to send your product to test users to get initial feedback. User tests carried out during this phase can greatly contribute to improving and refining the final product design, while leaving enough time to fix any defects.
5. Refine the idea
With a prototype you can simplify your product idea, or conversely add other features and turn it into a visually appealing format. If a proof of concept has confirmed that the idea can be built, a prototype will give the idea a concrete form.
Now let's look at the different steps to create a proof of concept.
Step 1: Demonstrate the need for the product
When presenting the POC, the project manager must establish the product need by stating the target market and its needs. When describing customer needs, however, the project manager should not simply assume them. He or she must obtain real, verified answers: to do this, the project manager can gather responses by interviewing a representative sample of potential customers. They can ask in-depth questions about those customers' frustrations, what they expect from a product to alleviate that pain, the user experience they want, and so on.
This allows the project manager to clearly grasp the feelings and viewpoints of their target audience while obtaining a list of specific points to include in the POC.
Step 2: Find the solution
From the responses of the sample group, the project manager can now begin brainstorming solutions to customers' problems with the team, keeping in mind that these solutions must be feasible and within the company's financial and technical capabilities.
The team should evaluate each solution in terms of costs, timeline, required technologies, operational capabilities, competition, resources, and other factors.
Furthermore, to strengthen the proposal, the team should discuss how their solution can contribute to achieving the organization's or stakeholders' objectives for the project.
Perfection is not necessary during ideation, at least in the early stages. You might be surprised how half-formed ideas can lead to the best solutions.
Step 3: Create a prototype and test it
Once the team has found a realistic idea, they can create a prototype based on the chosen requirements, features, and solutions.
Next, the members of the sample group should try and test the finished prototype: this determines whether the product truly addresses the pain points expressed by the group.
Testing it with the same group makes it easier to document feedback, which is essential for the next step.
There is no need to linger trying to build the perfect prototype. While you should be cautious and diligent, don't stay stuck in this phase longer than necessary.
Step 4: Gather and document feedback
During prototype testing, the project manager should collect and document the sample group's feedback about their experience, reactions, and any other useful details, including their thoughts on the user interface.
The feedback collected will allow the team to verify the relevance and feasibility of the solution. It also informs the team of potential improvements to the proposed prototype and provides important insight for subsequent steps.
So the team can quickly refer to the responses collected, they can record feedback in their project management software, for example on a cloud-based platform. This makes it easier for your project team to access the data and for the sample group to participate and collaborate.
Step 5: Present the POC for approval
Once the concept has been tested and improved based on initial feedback, the project manager can now prepare the presentation for stakeholders.
It must present, among other things, the problems the product solves, the features that address those problems, and the technologies involved to explain the feasibility of the idea.
After outlining and specifying the components of product development and project management, it must also present, in its project follow-up, the success criteria and project management measures, the evaluation methods, the timeline, the required resources and all the aspects addressed earlier.
Once the idea has been presented and the stakeholders are convinced and have decided to invest, implementation can begin.
In a POC, the emphasis is on what the product delivers rather than on its features.
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