A Quick Guide to Rapid Prototyping for Product Development in 2023
Prototyping is a necessity of the modern tech era. Web technologies present a world of possibilities but also lead to uncertainties. A prototype is the most potent way to understand and address those uncertainties.
There are young entrepreneurs out there who often rule out this phase in their eagerness to reach the market sooner. What they fail to acknowledge is that while the market can reward them in the form of revenues, it can also ruin their dreams owing to its volatility.
Rapid prototyping may increase the overall market time, but it will also increase the chances of success by verifying the feasibility of app features, identifying key problems, getting valuable user feedback, and making almost accurate cost projections.
With 2023 almost around the corner, more and more stakeholders will be curious to launch their new digital products. So if you’re another budding entrepreneur looking to make the most of the market, then hang on to this article to find out the basics of rapid prototyping and how to create a good one.
What is Rapid Prototyping? Why you Need One?
In the digital language, rapid product prototyping is the method of creating a curtailed version of any digital product. It may be a software, an app or a website. The main objective of prototyping is to get a functional and realistic illustration of digital product ideas in an inexpensive way.
In an attempt to encourage cost-cutting and a faster turnaround time, some investors prefer to skip this phase. But given the complexities and the competition of the app industry, product prototyping for mobile apps are much needed and here are the reasons why one needs it:
- Firstly, prototypes help to determine the practical aspects of an application’s features and services.
- It helps in designing a more pragmatic approach of the actual product development.
- It gives a near-precise estimation of overall development time and cost.
- It is effective in gathering real-time feedback from stakeholders and users.
- It helps in weeding out the fundamental development issues at the earliest so as to reduce the errors during the actual development.
Types of Prototypes
Prototypes are broadly categorized into two main types, low fidelity and high fidelity ones.
Low-fidelity
Also called Low-fi prototypes, this type of prototypes are early and crude iterations of app ideas. They are characterized by minimum use of resources, an extremely rudimentary representation of ideas, which are done at the expense of minimal time and effort.
Paper prototypes and 2D sketches are good examples Low-fi prototypes. Owing to the simplicity low-fi prototypes, one does not necessarily need to find technical expertise.
High-fidelity
Often referred as Hi-fi prototypes, this type consists of more matured versions of prototypes that bear close resemblance to the actual product. The prototype advancement depends upon a stakeholder’s requirements.
If it’s just the design, then a basic mock-up of the targeted pages or features will do, but if one needs it to be styled for better interaction, then a functional version of the prototype is required.
Hi-fi prototypes are characterized by more details, proper design elements and the consumption of resources including time and effort. Since hi-fi prototypes are more complicated to craft, one will need to hire the expertise from an experienced product prototype development company.
The Process of Rapid Prototyping
The sole purpose of rapid prototyping is to get a mock-up version within a minimum timeframe. So the process of rapid prototyping is kept simple and straightforward to get to the sample product sooner. Here are the key steps of rapid prototyping.
Requirement Assessment
Gather your requirements and assess the same to get a clear picture of your purpose. Thorough analysis of your requirements will help you to decide on the type of prototype that you will need, which in turn will define the other necessities.
Pick the Features
One must remember that a prototype is, after all, a trial product and hence, not much time and resources should be wasted on it. This is why it is important to pick the features that you deem absolutely necessary for demonstration.
Choose Your Tools
This step is explicitly for the technical people. In case you’re an investor and have hired the product prototyping services, then your chosen experts will decide on the tools. But if you happen to be the sole creator, then this step needs your attention. You can go for software like Figma and Sketch as they provide with cutting-edge prototyping tools.
Testing
Prototype testing is a crucial as it helps to get a proper understanding of how the actual product might work. At the same time, testing assists in surfacing the problems that one can encounter during the actual product development or in the actual product itself. Additionally, prototype testing also helps in getting valuable feedback from real-time users including your stakeholders.
Iterate and Reiterate
The last step to rapid prototyping is iteration and reiteration. Based on the gathered feedback, the creators need to make adjustments and recheck the feasibility of those changes. A second testing will decide if reiteration is required.
The Benefits of Prototyping
Before we wrap it up, let’s a take a gander at the benefits offered by rapid prototyping as that consolidate the reasons to go for it.
- It offers more flexibility in design and enables developers to accommodate the changes wherever and whenever required.
- It helps to find out any missing feature or functionality before the commencement of the final production.
- Once a prototype is built, it can be used by developers for future reference of other projects, thereby saving time and resources for both stakeholders and developers.
- It results in active participation of actual users.
- As already stated, it helps in making precise projection of costs and resources.
Conclusion
Rapid prototyping is the need of the hour as it helps investors get a good idea about the practicality of their concepts and how far will they go in succeeding. In case you want active user participation, you will need a hi-fi, interactive prototype. However, a good and interactive prototype shall require technical expertise. So find yourself a trusted development partner.
