All companies incur obstacles at the initial phases of product development, particularly when deciding on the MVP, POC, or prototype. Such initial decisions may significantly influence the course of the project. The inappropriate choice may waste the resources spent and cause the business to stagnate, so it is crucial to make the right choice. MVP vs. Prototype can be used independently or concurrently, depending on what you need to accomplish in your project based on your project roadmap.
It is worth noting that even some Fortune 500 companies have struggled to successfully introduce new products, including the app, during the initial phase. Ever think why? The cause can be generally boiled down to one thing: usually, the product does not fulfill the actual need of the end-users. It is paramount to make sure that you can make your product just right in the market, and the correct strategy, the MVP, POC, or prototype approach, would become necessary.
In this article, we are going to look over the questions of POC vs. prototype vs. MVP and give hints on how to select the most appropriate method to use in your startup. Okay, so how about we discuss the differences, how they are good, and see some examples of how you can use them?
What Are POC, Prototype, and MVP?
Before digging more details into each method, it is necessary to have an overview of the differences between POC, prototype, and MVP. So let us analyze them:
- Proof of Concept (POC): It is used to target the technical viability of the idea or concept.
- Prototype: is design-oriented and user-experience-oriented, and presents a visual and functional prototype of the product.
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP): a product with all essential functions that can be fully tested by real users and receive their input.
These three strategies are the foundations of product development through which you will perfect your idea, experiment with designs, and ensure market fit.
Proof of Concept (POC): Validating Technical Feasibility
The proof of concept (POC) is a limited project developed to see whether the technical aspects of an idea, technology, method, or integration are viable and proceed to full development. It helps to find out if the original idea can be applied in practice. A POC is usually an internal application and is never published. POC aims to either confirm that a certain idea is feasible technically, so that more resources are not put into it.
The main question that the POC strives to answer is the following: Can this be built?
When to Use POC?
- When you are experimenting with new technology or ways never been tried before.
- To find out whether a concept can be technically viable without investing significant resources.
- To find the seed money to demonstrate that your idea is technically viable.
What Do You Get With the POC Approach?
The advantages of applying the POC approach are the following:
- Finding Initial Investors: A failed POC proves nothing, but a POC that has worked is a good reason to attract people to invest. When a project has demonstrated that it is technically viable, investors would have a greater chance of financing it.
- Saves time: The POC method enables you to save valuable working time to establish much more easily whether your project can be implemented. In the absence of POC, you might end up spending more time thinking that the product idea might not work, thereby causing undue delay.
- Lower Risk: You will be able to develop several POCs based on various technologies to understand which of them will be the most effective, eliminating the risk of choosing an inefficient way. This gives free rein in innovative thinking.
- Competitive Advantage: With the help of POC, you can test your new ideas that are not that costly and allow you to be ahead of the competition since it allows you to prove your concepts in testing without wasting important resources on it.
Prototype: Bringing Your Product Design to Life
A prototype is a working model that represents how a product will look and function. Unlike a POC, which focuses on technical feasibility, a prototype is about testing the design, user interface, and user experience. It allows stakeholders to visualize the product before full-scale development begins. Prototypes are often used to gather feedback from stakeholders, investors, or users before launching the product.
The prototype answers the question, “How will the product function and look?”
When to Use a Prototype?
- When you want to refine your product’s design and get feedback on the user experience. Prototyping is all about showcasing your product visually and functionally.
- To attract investors by showing them how your product will look and function. A working prototype allows investors to see the product in action, providing better insights into its potential.
- To reduce development costs by identifying design flaws early in the process. Identifying potential issues during the prototype phase can save you from costly mistakes down the line.
What Do You Get With the Prototype Approach?
The benefits of using a prototype include:
- Design Validation: Testing the design before moving to full development ensures that it meets user expectations. A prototype helps avoid major design flaws that could negatively impact user experience.
- Resource Savings: Prototyping helps identify design flaws early, reducing costly changes during development. By catching issues before the development phase, you save time and money.
- Immediate Feedback: Prototypes allow you to gather feedback from users, making it easier to refine the product before launch. Direct user feedback is invaluable for improving the product’s appeal and functionality.
- Attracting Investment: A well-designed prototype can demonstrate your product’s potential to investors. A working prototype gives investors more confidence in the project’s success, leading to greater chances of funding.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Validating the Market Fit
An MVP is a basic, functional version of a product that includes the core features necessary to serve its initial users and gather feedback. The MVP helps you understand how users interact with your product and what needs improvement. It allows you to test the market with real users before investing significant resources into full development.
Unlike prototypes and POCs, an MVP is about creating a real, usable product—even if it’s minimal. It answers the question, “Does the product meet user needs?”
When to Use an MVP?
- When you have a clear idea of your product’s core features and want to validate them with real users.
- To attract your first customers and get feedback that can help improve the product.
- When you want to reduce development costs and time by launching a product with only essential features.
What Do You Get With the MVP Approach?
Here’s what you gain by using the MVP approach:
- Cost-Effective Development: Focusing on core features ensures that you don’t waste time or money on unnecessary development. This approach ensures that resources are spent only on the essential aspects of the product.
- User Insights: Gathering real user feedback helps you understand what features are most important and how to improve them. This feedback is essential for product evolution.
- Investor Confidence: An MVP with real user data demonstrates market potential, which helps attract investors. Investors want to see proof of demand, and an MVP provides exactly that.
- Attract Early Adopters: An MVP allows you to engage your first users, who can help validate your product’s value. Early adopters are crucial for spreading the word and building momentum.
POC vs Prototype vs MVP: Understanding the Differences
What’s the Key Difference Between POC and Prototype?
A POC tests whether a product can be built technically, while a prototype focuses on demonstrating how the product will work from a design and user experience perspective. POCs are often more technical, and prototypes are more about the look, feel, and flow of the product.
What’s the Key Difference Between Prototype and MVP?
A prototype is a mock-up of your product to test design and UX, while an MVP is a functional version of the product with core features used to gather real user feedback. An MVP is not just about testing the look of the product, but also how it functions in the real world.
Choosing the Right Approach for Your Product Development
Choosing between POC, prototype, and MVP depends on the stage of your product development and your goals. Here’s a quick guide:
- Use POC: If you need to validate the technical feasibility of an idea or new technology. It helps you confirm whether your technical idea will work before moving forward.
- Use Prototype: If you need to test the design and UX, and gather feedback on how the product looks and feels. This is the best phase for design-focused validation.
- Use MVP: If you need to validate your product’s market fit by launching with a minimum set of features and gathering user feedback. This is the stage for refining the product based on real user data.
Key Considerations Before Developing POC, Prototype, or MVP
Before starting, ask yourself:
- Is your idea unique?
- What do you want to verify—technical feasibility, design, or user feedback?
- Who is your target audience?
- What are your goals in terms of time, budget, and resources?
- What is your desired outcome from this stage of development?
Answering these questions will help you choose the right approach for your project.
Best Practices for POC, Prototype, and MVP Development
To make your product successful, here are some of the best practices that you could use in your development of each of the approaches:
- POC: Make sure you are testing what is the most important part of your idea-do not lose priceless time with details. Concentrate on the most important technical feasibility.
- Prototype: As soon as possible, solicit user feedback to reduce the amount of design and enhance user-friendliness. The prime testing should be user-centric design.
- MVP: The goal of an MVP development should be to deploy value to users as minimally as possible and then, based on the user's response, iterate and build. Fixate on what is of utmost importance to the users.
Real-World Examples: Successful Use of POC, Prototype, and MVP
POC Example: Walmart Blockchain
Walmart applied blockchain technology in its supply chain to facilitate the movement of goods and product origins. Blockchain test POCs at the company have been performed on both mangoes in the U.S. and meat in China. Through POCs, Walmart transformed its logistics system into an efficient and effective system.
Prototype Example: iPhone
The early model of the iPhone (developed in the year 1983) was a touchscreen with a stylus. It had several versions, which culminated in the release of the final piece in 2007. The prototype enabled Apple to test the usability as well as the user experience of the iPhone before its launch to the market.
MVP Example: Early Hackathon by Twitter
Twitter was first developed as a result of a hackathon at Odeo in 2001. The initial version of the platform was done by employees and soon became popular among them. When the employees began using the platform and making posts, the MVP was advanced and became the world-renowned Twitter platform that we know now.
How to Scale Your Product After POC, Prototype, or MVP
Once you have proved your product idea with a proof of concept (POC), a prototype, or a minimum viable product (MVP), it comes time to scale your project. Here’s how:
- Crowdsource User Reviews: Use the MVP user responses to enhance the product.
- Optimize: Work on what is working.
- Increase Marketing Efforts: You finally know there is demand, so market and grow your user base.
- Find Investment: Build on feedback on your MVP with your proven concept to find bigger investments to scale.
To conclude
The decision between POC, prototype, or MVP is important to the success of your next step in the process of your product. All the methods are quite different in their purposes, yet also complement each other by helping to confirm your idea and make it right on each step. A POC can help you test the feasibility, a prototype can help you understand your design and user experience, and with an MVP, you can get essential user feedback to improve on.
To achieve success in a competitive market, one should adhere to the correct product development route. Regardless of whether you are developing a POC, prototype, or MVP, these methods will help you develop a product that will contribute to the actual needs of the users. Collaborating with a team of experienced developers will also guarantee that the process of developing your product will be successful at all levels.
Their main distinction is related to the purpose. A POC would be demonstrated to test the technical viability of an idea or a technology. It assists in finding out the possibility of building the concept. A Prototype involves the work on the product design, its appearance, and the way users will interact with it. It is applied to perform a test drive before the complete development. Instead, an MVP is a simplified version of the actual product with only the key features that will enable you to receive actual feedback from the users and check whether the product fits the market.
As a general rule, you must apply a POC when you are not sure of the technical feasibility of your project. It is useful, especially when trying out new technologies or new methods that are untested. The POC assists you in confirming the idea of building is constructible and that it is functional in a practical situation without spending more time or money on development.
A Prototype is useful since it enables you to test and perfect the design without creating the entire product. It provides you with direct user feedback, which allows you to understand the possible design weaknesses in advance. This may save time and cost since expensive mistakes can be avoided in the development process. Moreover, an operational prototype would be an excellent asset to demonstrate to the investors how exactly the product is supposed to work, which is likely to raise your funding rate.
An MVP will give you a limited, working version of your product, and it will only have minimal features to serve your first users. It assists you in getting feedback from actual users, something essential in further developing and perfecting the product. The MVP also allows you to experiment on whether people would want to buy your product in the market or not before you make any heavy investments. Not only would this save you time and money, but it would also make your product more attractive to prospective investors.
Whether to employ a POC, prototype, or MVP would depend on the extent to which your product is developed. In case you need to test whether your idea is technologically possible, a POC is the appropriate option. In case you need to test the product design or user experience, then you would require a Prototype. Are you ready to get your product in the hands of real users with only the essential features, then launch an MVP to get feedback and confirm its fit to the market?