In today’s blog, we explain the difference between a prototype and an MVP (minimum viable product) and present the benefits of each one.
What Is a Prototype?
A prototype is usually an early software model that shows how the application will work in the future. It’s a simple illustration of your idea that helps you gather feedback from people or project stakeholders and identify areas for improvement.
Prototypes are built with different levels of fidelity. Low-fidelity prototypes can be developed as basic as hand-drawn sketches or wireframes on paper, while high-fidelity ones are clickable and allow you to see what important parts of the software look and feel like. More complex high fidelity prototypes can also use some early coding.
Prototyping Advantages
- Gather feedback quickly. Prototypes can be built and tested relatively quickly, allowing designers and software developers to get feedback and identify product issues early in the project.
- Easy to fix. Because prototypes are generally simple and flexible, they can be easily modified in response to user feedback or changing market conditions to test new ideas or compare them to other alternatives.
- Cost effectiveness. Prototypes are generally cheaper to develop because they require less development time and may have fewer features and lower reliability.
- Fund-raising advantage. Prototypes provide a concrete representation of an idea that can be used to persuade investors or entrepreneurs.
- Lower risk. Prototypes represent low risk, both in terms of cost and development time. This makes them an attractive choice for startups and small businesses that want to test new product ideas and different designs before turning the products into full-fledged development projects.
What Is an MVP?
An MVP (or Minimum Viable Product) is a basic, reduced version of a future product. Thus, MVP, essentially, is a piece of software built with enough fundamental features needed to satisfy early adopters’ needs. MVPs are built with the purpose of testing the product with a large audience to initiate early feedback. Once your MVP is launched, you can gradually develop the entire app by adding new features in the future.
The main distinction between a prototype and an MVP is that an MVP is a market-ready application while a prototype is a basic, intended model of a future product. Often, an MPV lacks some features or is less finished than the final product, yet, it is still a real working app.
MVP Benefits
- Ideas validation. MVPs provide a life-like representation of the final product and enable the development team to validate their ideas or concepts and gain actionable insights that prototypes may not be able to provide.
- Real-world feedback from users. While you may show a prototype to a small circle of project stakeholders or investors, an MVP opens the door to thousands of neutral users who will test it in real-world scenarios. With an MVP, you can gather feedback to help you recognize highly requested features, as well as common user problems, or other less intuitive UI elements. This feedback can be used for planning future development efforts and making necessary changes before the full release.
- Market acquisition. An MVP can be used to attract initial users and create buzz about the product. This can help build a loyal user base and generate interest in the product before it fully hits the market.
- Economic advantage. By releasing an MVP, you can start generating revenue and get the investment back faster, consequently reduce project risk, and have a new source of income to complete the development.
Not Sure Where to Start?
If you need expert help developing a successful MVP or prototype, contact Trustify Technology for our IT consulting services. Our expert consultants, with many years of experience in product development, are ready to guide you through every step of the process.
Prototype vs. MVP: Which To Choose?
The decision of choosing between a prototype and an MVP largely depends on where you are in the development stage of your project, who is your audience and how well you know them. Other important factors include the amount of resources you have access to such as funding, project time-line and more. If you are still pondering on your idea and testing on designs, choose a prototype: get feedback from stakeholders, attract investors and then move on to MVP development. If you are confident in your idea and possess the capital as well as capabilities to start a full-scale software development project, then an MVP is the place to start.
Final Notes
Prototyping and MVP development are both important to help increase your project’s chances of success, but they bring different advantages and serve different objectives. If you need specialist advice or industry experts to streamline the early stages of your development project, don’t hesitate to contact Trustify Technology.