As we come out of lockdown, we are seeing an increased need for new products and services rapidly emerge.

Whether you’re a start-up or an established organisation reacting to change, it’s important to understand the differences between a Proof of Concept (PoC) and a prototype, and where (and how) in the product design process they can add value.

The lines are often blurred between PoCs and prototypes; with organisations looking to jump straight into prototyping or using a prototype for PoC purposes. Either way, it’s important to understand the values of them both as separate tools so that when rolling products out quickly their effectiveness isn’t lost.

There is a number of reasons why we invest in Proof of Concepts;

1. To test feasibility; the idea may require a new technology approach or a change of business process — we need to test that the technology is capable or that the process is able to change. The PoC may be less visual — it’s more about a test and learn approach; did we achieve the outcome we hoped for?
2. Depending on the format of the PoC, it’s likely we’ll develop a better understanding of the risks; for example if the PoC is testing an API — the risk may be that it’s slow, or a business process could easily become overloaded and hinder the customer experience.
3. It also enables us to consider the approach and therefore cost implications in more detail; the effort, dependencies and partners required to bring an MVP to market.
4. To demonstrate the idea; it could take any format, but often the PoC is a slide deck or an explainer video; the format allows demonstration of the concept in an easily digestible manner to get buy-in. It’s also a great tool for getting team alignment across the org.
5. In a nutshell, the PoC is usually one of the first tasks we undertake as part of the design process; it allows us to answer any unknowns, understand any potential blockers and get buy-in before investing in any further design or testing.

Thanks for reading!

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