PoC vs Prototype and MVP: What's the Difference?

Which approach is the best approach for your development project, POC vs Prototype vs MVP?

Software product development depends on the combination of market demand for the product and careful testing to be successful.

The first step in the initial stage of a product is to get its idea validated. Validation for your project idea is essential before jumping straight to the development process because it could save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

The three most popular approaches to validate and test your idea are proof of concept, a prototype, and MVP. Keep an eye on the fastest-growing industry in India by 2025 to align your approaches with growing trends.

All three approaches come with their own purposes and advantages that are suitable for specific cases.

Now, you may wonder: What are the major differences between POC vs Prototype vs MVP? And how do you choose the best approach for your products?

Well, our blog explores everything below, so let’s get started.

Short Definitions of POC vs Prototype vs MVP

Proof of concept (POC) is a process to validate and check if the initial idea of the product is feasible as per the market needs.

Prototype refers to the mobile app development prototype that imitates and evaluates the form of your idea. For instance, how the developed product would look, feel, and interact with the users.

An MVP is a minimum viable product. It’s the functional version of the product, including only the app's core features. An MVP aims to get users' feedback in the initial stage.

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What is PoC?

You might have heard this term a lot in the context of product development, but what is POC in business exactly?

In mobile app development, POC stands for a simplified project that validates or demonstrates an idea. Essentially, the goal of a POC is to check whether an idea can be built and will not consume all available resources and time.

With a POC, you test core functionality. If your app idea is complex, you'll have multiple POCs as you test each function.

During the creation of a POC, user experience is sent overboard. As much time and effort are spent to produce the optimal user experience, which you want to ignore when creating a POC.

It's to validate your product's technology or technical capability among the stakeholders.

What are the Features of a Proof of Concept(POC)?

You can develop a POC to present your idea before the investor to attract seed funding for further development.

It is simply a tool to impress the investor's interest in your product.

Here are some of the features of POC:

1. Innovation

Innovation happens at the intersection of technological feasibility and market need. A POC will enable you to cross-check how your idea can be developed with the prevailing technology.

2. Time-Efficient

When you check if your idea can be built, you automatically save the time that would be wasted if you were to figure out the technical viability issues once you hire developers and commit significant resources and time.

3. Technology Stack Selection

You will then make several POCs based on various technologies to decide which fits your project best. This way, you know what will be possible as you go along and how to structure your product's roadmap.

Choosing the right best app development software is crucial to ensuring smooth functionality.

4. Comparison With Market Competition

If the market is overly saturated with a similar mobile application, then a POC will validate unique features in your offer.

Your product will have to be exceptional in approaching the solution for the same problem to become a better alternative than that already available.

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What are the PoC Best Practices?

1. The Purpose of Your Product Should be Clear

Before elaborating on why you need POC, let's first define what you are testing.

POC ensures that your product's purpose is clear to avoid mistakes and prevent the wastage of resources.

2. Be Specific of the Parameters of Your Project

Control the scope of your PoC. It is not a time to be exploratory but validated.

3. Build a Skilled Team

Create a team of experts needing knowledge and skills relative to the tested concept.

4. Document All Stages and Changes

From hypotheses to results, comprehensive documentation may provide leads for future references.

5. Seek Feedback

After completing your POC, collect feedback from the stakeholders. This could steer you toward refining or even a broader application of the concept.

Why Should You Use a PoC Approach?

Developing a PoC is an excellent way to perform a try-run of your concept at a low cost and in a limited timeframe (from a few days to a couple of weeks).

For example, small enterprises creating CRM software for small businesses to simplify the process should always go through a POC approach for the product’s initial development.

In short, if you are indulging yourself in upcoming new business ideas in India, there’s all the more reason to start with a PoC to “bulletproof” your product vision and find the technical vision to bring it to life.

A proof of concept can also help you:

» Verify the selected development approach

» Check the feasibility of a complex technical solution

» Define your solution's limitations

» Evaluate what resources you need

» Reduce the likelihood of failures during later development stages

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What Is a Prototype?

The prototype is the starting point of your product design.

A proof of concept tries to answer the technical elements, while a prototype tries to answer what the product should look like. This is a significant difference between proof of concept and prototype.

Creating a prototype depends on collaborating with designers, developers, and product owners to arrive at the design.

Prototypes show you what UI elements should be included and how users would interact.

Prototypes can be in various forms, from simple paper-based wireframes to highly interactive "clickable" versions in Figma.

The advantage of prototyping in Figma is that the software outputs ready-to-use HTML and CSS code that may be used to inject into a website or mobile app.

A plugin also integrates with Flutter, directly converting Figma components into widgets when figuring out how to build a Flutter web app.

The disadvantage is that sometimes it can take much time to develop a prototype, especially when there is multiple design production and recreation of a product.

How Does Prototyping Work?

Prototyping makes it easier to fill in gaps in your concept and understand and discover all needs and specifications.

This cost- and time-saving solution can quickly help you adapt and improve your product concept based on user testing and feedback.

Prototyping is a good choice for showing your product's design. It also helps appreciate the complex algorithms and processes the system needs. Depending on your goal, prototypes can be:

» Functional: It imitates one or a couple of product functions.

» Display: It focuses on the look and feel of the product.

Prototypes can come in the following forms:

» Paper-based (e.g., hand-drawn wireframes)

» Digital (e.g., UI mockups, interactive "clickable" versions)

» Miniature (for example, IoT product sample)

The prototype's shape will depend on your product and the features you must test and demonstrate.

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What are the Examples of Prototype Models?

The prototyping approach involves four significant models:

1. Rapid Prototypes or Close-ended Prototypes

These are developed to test specific functions quickly, explore ideas, and get instant feedback. They're sometimes called thrown-away prototypes since you don't reuse them down the line.

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2. Evolutionary Prototypes

They may be built further until they result in a scalable product. Therefore, in this model, every prototype forms a basis for the next one until you have completed the development of your product.

3. Incremental prototyping

Incremental prototyping involves breaking the final product into stages with small, individually developed prototypes. Eventually, these can be merged to form a single product.

4. Extreme Prototyping

It is used in web development. It focuses on delivering the product instead of discovering all possible needs and specifications, maximizing productivity.

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What Is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

There are many definitions of a minimum viable product, and there’s no definite one. An MVP for one project might have a different definition for another.

In other words, an MVP depends on the context of your product and organization. One company’s minimum features might amount to a complex application in another.

The key to building an MVP is to start learning with a version of your product that only contains the core features but lets you validate your hypothesis.

The significance of MVP also displayed in the way the industry processes AI integration in MVP development for startups.

A minimum viable product helps gauge the demand and product-market fit—whether your product attracts and satisfies early adopters.

An MVP should contain the minimum number of features that make your product marketable. Remember, the goal is to collect and analyze user-generated data and feedback.

What are the Features of an MVP?

The MVP approach declares the functionality of your product. For instance, imagine someone creating the best hospital management software in India, but how could they prove it could be the best in the market initially?

It’s where MVP helps products secure such high regard in the industry. When stakeholders see a visual representation of the product with their eyes, it builds credibility.

Here are some more features of the MVP:

1. Collect User Feedback

An MVP is a great way to understand what early users think about your product—and what you can learn from their feedback to improve the product's next round.

2. Cost-efficient and Save Resources

Development work decreases because you don't need to add all the features to your MVP. Plus, when analyzing the user's feedback, you can develop a clear product roadmap, minimizing over-building risk.

3. Introduction of Expansion

It also allows gradual product expansion, which means you can start working on another release after securing funding.

4. Attract Investors

While a POC and prototype can help you raise seed funding, an MVP will help you get a more significant investment.

After all, if your MVP gains traction and starts racking up positive feedback, investors are more likely to be convinced to back your business idea with money.

5. Get the Funding

With the MVP out on the market and enough marketing, you can acquire paying users to support your growth.

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Why Should You Use an MVP Approach for Your Product?

Any new products have an element of risk. A study by CB Insights reveals that one-third of the startups (precisely 35%) fail because they fail to meet the market's needs. From an MVP, you start first and test the waters.

You spend your time and money determining whether to go ahead, change direction, or return to the drawing board.

Other reasons to create an MVP include:

» Work on a shoestring budget with the launch of your business

» Secure venture capital or crowdsourced funds

» Reduce product failure in the marketplace

» Establish customer connections

» Create quality final products

MVP is the correct project to prove that an idea has value for further development and identify areas that might make it not profitable.

Now that you have been introduced to all three ideas of the project validation approaches, let's narrow down what makes them different. Easy.

PoC vs Prototype vs MVP: What's the difference?

Proof of Concept

A PoC answers the question of the feasibility of an idea, tests technical, and diminishes the risk of further software development.

In most instances, it is an in-house project and not the most effective for demonstrating the financial potential of your concept to investors.

A prototype is your best bet to prove how your product will look or function without actual development.

Prototyping

A prototype has no business logic for your finished product but shows its UI/UX designer roadmap or particular functionality.

It can be shipped to a focus group for early feedback, allowing you to discover perceptions of the general concept and find gaps in the flow.

Especially in the POC vs Prototype debate, these are the main differences between the two. Proof of concept validates the idea, whereas prototyping brings it to life.

It's also a perfect option to gain investor traction and secure funding for further product design.

MVP

An MVP is completely functional with core features that best demonstrate and support your business concept.

It is not a full-fledged product at this stage, but you can use it to collect user analytics and add or refine features in subsequent iterations.

Here’s the difference in proof of concept vs MVP vs Prototype:

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POC vs Prototype vs MVP: How to Pick the Best Approach for Your Product?

Proof of concept, prototyping, and MVP aren't approaches that can be used interchangeably.

As mentioned, each is used at a different phase of the product development lifecycle and applies in specified situations.

In simple words, define your solution's limitations and evaluate resources. Also, explore AI-based business ideas to stay ahead in the AI revolution using these three best approaches to make your product successful.

However, which should you start with, POC vs prototype vs MVP?

Here are quick tips to guide you in making the right choice.

Use PoC When:

» You want to build something revolutionary and new

» You need to verify whether an idea is technically feasible

» You want to decide one of the new technology trends in the IT sector that suits your product

» You want to share technical know-how among the team members

Use Prototyping When:

» You are making a flow visualization

» You plan to raise seed-stage funding

» You would want to get an advanced reaction from focus groups

» You will present at a tight deadline and want to present your idea.

Use MVP When:

» You desire early users to test how the market receives the reception.

» You would like to scale up quickly with an acceptable cost of development.

» You are keen on generating some revenues based on your concept faster.

» You want to minimize failure risk

Progressing step by step by analyzing all three ideas is not an absolute requirement, but surely it minimizes risks and prepares the product for market release.

Final Thoughts

Proof of concept, prototype, or MVP: all these work towards a similar overarching goal—to validate your idea. Each does it from a slightly different angle, however.

Choosing the right approach can help you increase your business's chances of success. To ensure success, consider software development services for professional guidance.

In conclusion, you need these three approaches:

» You need a PoC to validate the technical capabilities that will realize your idea.

» You want to prototype so you can demonstrate your idea cheaply and quickly

» You want to do an MVP to test market reception for your product

You still can do product discovery, but it's unlikely to finally pay back in the hundreds of thousands or to take six months to build a finished product.

For example, to create a basic mobile application with your core offer inside, you can take a shot at developing it using one of the no-code MVP solutions.

So, the working app will be prepared for testing in no time, even in two weeks. Still, even the low-code tool demands a relatively good experience with mobile application development and product expertise to build reliable software.

If you have multiple objectives that you wish to accomplish, such as on-demand app development, but your time or budget is not unlimited. The decision-making process will depend on choosing the suitable method.

However, Arramton Infotech is an experienced partner who'll help you choose the best fit for your product if you choose us for any development project.

You can contact us here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. POC vs Prototype vs MVP: How to Choose the Best Approach?

Ans: When you are developing an application, it’s essential to understand the difference between POC and prototype or MVP. Furthermore, these steps are all necessary to display your project as one of the most functional things in the market. They just serve different purposes at every stage; however, all are significant.

Q. What is the difference between POC and prototype?

Ans: Proof of concept vs prototype; both often get confused for the same process. However, they are both different and have distinct functions. A POC is a comparatively small-scale process, whereas prototyping is more comprehensive. In PoC, you display a functional demonstration of your product to get its idea validated. Prototyping, on the other hand, is a fully functional representation of the product to test its usability and acquire feedback.

Q. Prototype vs MVP: What’s the difference?

Ans: A prototype imitates and displays a version of your product. The version is used for testing and acquiring feedback to refine the final product. On the other hand, an MVP is a functional product with only the major features of the project.

Q. Do You Always Need to Code Your POC, Prototype, or MVP?

Ans: If you are developing a product with more complex features and algorithms or architecture, coding is necessary to ensure it works as intended. However, a non-coding approach like wireframing or mockups is useful as well.