7 Things keep in mind while working on PoC as UI/UX Designer

Highlight the most common PoC challenges or barriers and how to overcome them with some easy tips and tricks.

Earlier this year, I completed a year of work at Globant. It has been an enriching journey where I have acquired immense learning while working on various designs right from research to delivering complex platforms from scratch. Among them, One of my favorite activities was working on a Proof of Concept (PoC). I am thankful that I have got the opportunity because it gives me to go beyond feasibility and display my skills and expertise.

PoC is a very well-known word in the Product industry for any techno-savvy person. In today’s time, every day thousands of new startups enter the market with some fresh and unique ideas. Some of them become a business, product and some of the help ecosystem. Behind any idea, there are lot many things to check such as,

• How effectively the solution is implemented?
• Which technology supports the idea?
• How crucial development cost is?
• How long take time to build a product?
• Either idea is truly practical, useful, commercially viable, or worth spending?

Ohh… looks like a lot of technical questions.

So, what is the primary step to get all questions answered before building?

And the answer is “Proof of Concept” (PoC)

What is Proof of Concept (PoC)?

A Proof of Concept (PoC) is the initial stage of an idea in order to access and demonstrate the solution, In order to check the objective and feasibility that proves the idea, technology are easy to functional.

PoC is the first step of implementation or validates any idea or solution in today’s world. It is a small exercise to validate the design idea or assumption. The main purpose of building a PoC is to demonstrate the functionality and to verify the feasibility of certain concepts or theories that can be achieved in development. We can say it is the first baby steps of implementation or validates any idea or solution in today’s world.

Why PoC is important?

Today, many tech companies offer PoC as a free service to win a business and on another side, many startups take the leverage of this service and, invite various tech companies to build a solution which idea they have. PoC is beneficial for both companies and investors. Both parties gain an understanding of whether the solution is the right fit or not.

UI/UX Designer plays a big role in PoC because Designers are the best people to visualize and show the big picture to the buyer. Also, it’s the best opportunity for designers to learn, experiment and portray the best of their skills. However, on the flip side, it comes with a lot of restrictions such as a short time span, limited data etc.

Initially, I was facing a lot of challenges but after doing a couple of PoCs, When I look back, I figured out 7 simple tricks that I feel as a designers should incorporate into their work for better results.

1. Short Time-Span

A PoC typically has a short life cycle. A quick turnaround is expected. Designer generally gets around 3–5 days to deliver UX as well as Visual Designs for the key screens when they are assigned PoC. Most of the time, Designers have to work in rush. In some cases, they think multiple solutions towards the problems but due to the short time, designers don’t create multiple options. They mostly prefer to go with a single option.

When your PoC has a tight deadline, follow these steps to deliver in a short time without losing project quality or team sanity.

• Break the PoC down into manageable chunks. Take one screen or one module at a time. Breaking them down into small, digestible chunks.
• Set Priorities. Identify key screens which will make high-impact decisions.
• Keep it simple. Do not get into too many details of the interaction. It is important to stay realistic while avoiding perfectionist ideals.
• Keep updated. Do a regular stand-up so everyone can be on the same page and address if any critical issue occurs.
• Build a rapid team. Add experienced or technically sharp folks. In PoC, there is less opportunity to teach or guide someone. A team must be someone who can find the solution themself and implement it.

2. Ask Right Questions Before Starting

In Order to achieve a short timeline, planning is very important. You can plan something when you have the right direction so before starting work on any PoC, take some time to sit down with your stakeholder and ask some right questions to understand objectivity in detail. This will walk a long way in ensuring you’re applying the right processes to the PoC and setting the right expectations about how your teams will work together.

Obviously, you should build your own questions based on the problem statement but here are a few sets of questions to help you to get started:

• Who is the audience or who will view the PoC?
• How will the PoC be viewed? do we need to present or share the links or PPT file?
• What are the KRAs or what is the client looking for?
• Are we aware of the user problems?
• Are there any competitors?
• What are the biggest obstacles to getting this done?
• What will be the deadline?

These few questions definitely help for better planning.

3. Limited Data, Limited Information

PoC generally comes with very limited data. Startups or stakeholders expect from companies how their designers do certain research and come up with some innovative solutions.

In this case, do some secondary research, freeze the problem statement and according to that put your assumptions, highlight the risk area and create a persona for assuming user needs and preferences. This practice help while you present your output to stakeholders.

4. Domain Knowledge

It is not possible that designers always have all the industry knowledge. Sometimes, they have to work on those domains in which expertise lacking in their research.

Again, Secondary research helps here. competitor analysis, articles can help at any stage of your business. It’s worth taking the time to conduct one.

You can take the help of other colleagues from the team or outside the team who are working on a similar domain.

5. Room For Review And Improvement

PoC is not built by a single person. It is core teamwork. Multiple people are involved in it such as designers, developers, business analysts, project managers, technology experts. Early review is an opportunity to identify areas of improvement on early stage. Before offering solutions to stakeholders, it is essential to review the design solution internally, exchange comments, and keep everyone on the same page.

Always keep sharable files, constantly get in touch with team members and keep things transparent that what you are finalized and what you are building to reduce iteration effort and time.

6. UX Prototype and Visuals Presentation

Prototype and Visuals both are the front-face of PoC. The prototype shows how your solution will be worked while Visuals show how your solution will be looked at. The prototype is the first attempt at the entire product flow from start to end. It can be one or multiple scenarios which met end-user expectations whereas, Visual design is the reference to the stakeholders to see the capabilities of designers how they align design solutions with their brands, current trends and user needs.

Compare to visuals, the prototype can be developed faster so showing multiple scenarios in the prototype may not take much time but building multiple scenarios in visuals, take a good amount of time. So it is always advisable to present multiple scenarios via prototype and focus on max 2–3 important visuals which create impact to gain trust.

7. Prepare Presentation Deck

The presentation deck is one of the most key methods while we pitch our solution/ideas to stakeholders. Sometimes, standing presentations impress the stakeholders.

Please keep in mind that stakeholders often hear dozens of presentations a week so make your presentation stand out with a real unique value proposition. Don’t keep it too long. Cover everything under 10–15 minutes. Explain your problem statement, solutions, persona, user journey, assumptions, visual decisions, risk factors through meaningful data.

In Conclusion, PoC verifies whether your solution can possibly work or not. Also, it expected a quick turnaround so it is always advisable, before starting work on PoC, just define the proper strategies and execution along with great teamwork that helps to overcome all the challenges and at the end, you can come up with the quality output that is the secret sauce of any successful PoC.