Looking to follow the prototyping model for your software? You’re making a pretty good choice. Prototyping is up there with the Waterfall method in terms of commonly used. It’s a fruitful process that can leave you with the best-quality mobile app on the market. But what other benefits can it garner for your app business?
What is the Prototyping Model?
Prototyping is among the most popularly used Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models. With prototyping, you build a working model of your software (a.k.a. the Prototype) that you’ll test and develop with the help of user feedback.
It’s an excellent model to follow especially when you have scarce system or project requirements. The suggestions and inputs the user or customer may have will be helpful in refining and improving your app, resulting in a better overall end product.
There are six steps in the prototyping model:
- Step 1: Gather initial requirements – you gather any system/project requirements from users,
- Step 2: Make a quick design – draft an initial design based on those requirements.
- Step 3: Build a prototype – make a working model of your design.
- Step 4: Gain user feedback – test the prototype with users and gauge for feedback.
- Step 5: Refine prototype based on feedback – adjust and adapt the prototype based on user feedback.
- Step 6: Craft the final product – with all feedback implemented, you can create the final version of your software.
Repeat steps 3-5 until you reach the desired outcome.
Benefits of the Prototyping Model
The prototyping model can be beneficial not only for product development but also for marketing. Here are some of the most beneficial aspects of prototyping.
Find the right requirements
One of the main reasons why some projects fail is because of poor requirement management. When system requirements are unclear or incomplete, it’s harder for you to develop your software successfully. That’s why the prototyping model is useful in these situations. It helps you define your project requirements through trial and error and collaborating with customers.
Every time you build a prototype, you test it with target users and ask if the app lacks critical components or features. Whatever feedback they provide can serve as your guideline for what your app needs. What’s beneficial about this workflow is that you’re implementing input from the people who will directly benefit from your product. In the end, it’s all for the customer.
Stronger collaboration within your team
Prototypes help see what needs to be fixed or added. Now that your team has a visual representation of what your software looks like, they can easily detect any issues and work quickly to resolve them. Plus, it helps keep everyone on the same page. That’s why it’s essential to have project requirements defined. Your development team has clear objectives they can work to complete.
Having a better idea of the end goal can lead to better teamwork, more innovation, and stronger communication. In addition, it can help teams be more creative when working on the app’s user interface.
Better user experience and validation
Getting customers involved helps you better understand what they want. Your app will have a better user experience because it’s built from the feedback of real users. Their input is valuable because you can refine the user interface to fit their needs. Plus, users feel a better sense of ownership when they participate in the development process.
Another benefit of testing your app with users is that they help validate your ideas. You can test different ideas, technology, and features to gauge user reactions. If they don’t like the new tech, you can simply leave it off the final product. If they do, it can be a competitive advantage for your business.
Great for impressing investors
If your software business is in the early stages of its development and you need to obtain funding, a prototype is a convenient thing to have. When reaching out to investors, it helps to have a working model of your app readily available during your presentation. Some of them need a visualizer of the software before they buy in.
By using a replica of your app, they get to experience a physical representation of what the final product may look like and how it works, which may help them see the value of your project. Prototypes can be the difference maker in obtaining the capital you need for your business.
Gain feedback early
Another advantage of using the prototyping model is you get feedback early on in the process. When you fully build the final software before testing it, users could experience numerous issues and errors you may have missed. Then you find yourself working swiftly to address those issues, which can negatively impact your brand reputation.
But with a prototype, you launch a beta version of your product that allows you to make adjustments along the way based on customer suggestions. Getting early feedback helps save you all the trouble down the line and produce a nearly perfect final product.
Better end product
As a result of the benefits listed above, you finish with a high-quality end product. With prototyping, you learn more about your system and its design flaws through trial and error. You built software that adapts many or all of the feedback provided by the users. You’ve tested and developed multiple iterations of your app. You went back and completely fixed any issues plaguing user experience.
Lastly, you made necessary additions to improve customer satisfaction. All the work and collaboration have left you with fully developed software that’s ready to deploy and made with the customer in mind.
Work on Your Prototype Today
The prototyping model is designed so that by launch day, you’re putting out the best final product possible. It’s built off of accurate and concrete feedback from the people who will actually use it, which is a huge plus.
While it can add an upfront cost, you’ll end up with software your target audience can enjoy, which will pay off in the long run.
If you need help, we have experienced developers at Confianz who can build your app just how you and your customers like it. Confianz Global® delivers top-tier services in mobile app development, ERP implementation, and web development. Our dedicated team of skilled software engineers possesses extensive experience in custom software development. Hire a software developer from our company today for your next mobile, software, or web application project, and rest assured that you’re choosing a professional who consistently prioritizes your needs.
Contact us to learn more.
