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To launch the final product, startups, as well as other organizations, need to make some small yet important choices. Starting from mockup creation to feature design and budget revision, everything is crucially important.
But the toughest job is to decide whether developers should develop a minimum viable product, a proof-of-proof concept or a prototype. It is of utmost importance to know the difference between these three to choose the best approach. These approaches play a vital role in website development services.
MVP vs POC
MVP
MVP stands for minimum viable products whereas POC stands for proof-of-concept. Both of them are methods used by startups to verify the assumptions of the final product made by them. These methods are used for saving time as well as money but both of them have a different approach towards the final product.
A minimum viable product is a version of a product that has more than enough features to stay viable. This means it has the core functionality but not any additional features. The use of MVP is questionable because of its limited features by startups nowadays, but the main purpose of building an MVP is to get the minimum version of the product to the market.
In this way, the developers get to know whether the product they are launching has any value at all or not. If the product has some value, then it will prove to be profitable for the company as soon as the first customer starts using it. When the product gets customers in its early period, it fills the developers as well as the company with confidence and sufficient funds. After the first launch becomes successful, the company becomes ready to pack up the product or application with additional features and functionalities.
POC
But, when it comes to proof-of-concept, it is pretty different from the minimum viable product. POC development services built POC to verify some minor but important technical assumptions before getting down to development. Whenever the developer is not sure whether the idea of the product will work or not, then a POC is developed, not a minimum viable product.
A proof-of-concept covers a small part of the whole development and designing process of the product and not the entire system. Also, there is an additional benefit of data hiding from users which means the user will not be able to see it because of the fact that POCs are used inside the company for the purpose of clarifying the path opted for development. It is also used to get the seed-stage or primary stage funding from customers.
POC vs Prototype
POC
Both, POC as well as Prototype, are often used interchangeably. But, on the other hand, both of these approaches have varied meanings. A proof-of-concept is a small concept that was framed to test if a certain idea or logic of the product can be implemented. For instance, if a developer does not know whether a feature can be built or not, the feasibility of the idea can be tested by simply creating a POC.
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Many companies consider it a waste of time but POC development services help the company to save money as it lowers the risk of failure of the product. A proof-of-concept can be considered as a small research that gives the user a grant to go further with the development of a product.
Prototype
Similar to a POC, a prototype's main aim is to help the developers to make decisions about the development of a product and reduce the number and probability of mistakes. But it is slightly different from that of POC. While a POC offers the developer a model of an aspect of the product, but a prototype is a kind of working model of different aspects of the product.
The team of developers uses this approach to find out errors in the system. Developers test the product's design, usability, and functionalities only by building a prototype. These features are not possible in a proof-of-concept approach as it is comparatively smaller and can verify only a single issue.
MVP vs Prototype
MVP
The development team builds both the models viz. minimum viable product and a prototype of the system. But, an MVP feels like a separate product and prototype is a kind of draft made by developers. An MVP is a minimized version of the desired product and is presented in front of the customers in the market directly. This means that the MVP made has to be simple, well-polished and free of bugs or any other problems for custom software development companies. While on the other hand, prototypes are created just for picking out errors and does not perform any kind of extra operations.
Prototype
The main goal of a prototype is testing and the potential users are among those who carry out the task. The main benefit of building a prototype is that it gets a preview of how users will interact with the product. By this, the development team can collect feedback from the customers and make changes that are required and also have the option to create a new prototype.
Generally, it has been observed that before the final launch of the product, developers have to build a lot of prototypes that have different scopes and contents. Prototyping can also be used in innovating new ideas about any product, attracting investors and later an MVP can be built on the based of that whole idea.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST APPROACH?
Many website development services label MVP or POC or prototype, the best approach for product development, but each of the processes has its own use and place in the development cycle. All three approaches have different goals and applications. For instance, when the user has no idea where he/she can start, then building a POC is the best option. After that, a prototype can be made to test the general look of the system made.
This prototype can later be transformed into a minimum viable product that will be finally delivered to the market. And then several cycles of prototyping are done for improvement before the final launch of the product.
Few Words:
The main thing to be kept in mind while choosing the best approach is the size of the project as well as the target audience to choose the correct approach for development. This is one of the key reasons for the success of the best web development company.
