Proof of Concept Tool : Know If Your Product Is What The Customer Needs

A proof of concept (POC) determines whether an idea or feature can be delivered successfully with the right features and performance. A POC is used to generate positive results before you embark on a full-scale development.

It’s often used to evaluate the viability of your product ideas and determine the features to include in your product roadmap.

What is a Proof of Concept, and How is it Done?

A proof of concept (POC) demonstrates the feasibility of a product when still an idea. It’s usually a quick, cheap, and simple final product version and tests the viability of an idea before investing time and money into its development.

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How to do the Proof of Concept?

It’s essential to understand why this is an important step in the process and how it can help ensure that your idea will make it to the top of the market and be ready for production.

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The POCs goal is to validate whether or not an idea has value by testing its viability in real life. It will help to find out:

• If the prospects will buy your product or service
• The demand it may have?
• The hurdles that could obstruct it (such as cost).

Such information will help future decisions about what should be developed next—and even prevent unnecessary steps from being taken down the road!

How to write a proof of concept

A POC enables the project leaders to determine whether a suggested idea is workable, appealing to the target market, and feasible for the firm. They must thus formulate a fool-proof, proof of concept checklist as follows:

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Step 1: Illustrate The Need For The Product

The project leader must estimate the target and requirements of the POC by interviewing prospective customers to know their feeling and demand for the product they have an idea of creating.

Step 2: Ideate The Right Solution

The project managers must then collaborate with team and conduct brainstorming sessions to find feasible solutions to customer problems within the firm’s capacity. Subsequently, they must check the cost of solutions, resource requirements, and competition and make a final list of the most viable solutions. The last step is to check the benefit to the business and stakeholders.

Step 3: A Prototype to Test

The prototype is created and tested within the group to know if the product or service meets the objectives of addressing customer pain points.

Step 4: Gather And Document Feedback

The test (prototype) feedback, along with the user’s opinion about the product, their experiences, valuable inputs, and reactions, are collected and stored in their project management software for easy reference. The feedback will reveal the usability and feasibility of the production attempt of the product.

Step 5: Present Poc For Approval

Based on the feedback, the project leaders and their teams improvise the solution and present it to the stakeholders along with the detailed product benefits.

Why is Proof of Concept Necessary?

A Proof of Concept (POC) is a step in the process that helps determine if your idea is worth further development. It can also be used to help you decide how to develop it, as well as how to market it.

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Created by one or more teams within your organisation, this prototype aims to test whether or not your product idea has enough value for others in the organisation who would be interested in using it once it’s ready for launch.

Proof of Concept Testing

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Understand Your Audience’s Pain Points

A business develops a product so that the customer will buy it. The focus must thus be on providing the customer with a product that solves their pain points. Only an in-depth understanding of customer pain points can help the project leaders to develop a product appealing to the customers.

Evaluate Possible Solutions

Now that you have the problem, look for a solution to solve it. It should address customer problems, be workable to the team, and be affordable to the business. Hold several collaborative sessions until you have sufficient information to move forward.

Create A Proof of Concept Template

Businesses need not take a blind leap and produce the product only for the attempt to backfire on them, resulting in losses. They can test the product’s viability in the early stages of its development, and they write the proof of concept to provide a base for the prototype. (Here, the testing of the product is in private, probably in a lab).

You will find step-by-step instructions for writing a POC in the latter part of this article. To save time for future projects, create a proof of concept template and save it on your project management software.

Refine The Product Idea According To Feedback.

Collect the data after testing the product within your group. Improvise according to the received feedback and build the solution accordingly

Finalise Your Proof Of Concept

Finish the proof of concept by outlining the requirements for the product’s success, the procedures for carrying out the POC, and an evaluation component. Stakeholders must also be given the cost, timescale, and resources needed so they may make their final choice.

Tool for Creating POCs

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Project Management Software

Although project and task management software is similar, they primarily differ in scale and scope.

While Task management applications help users delegate tasks to their teams, track progress, and calculate productivity. Project management software also assists managers in determining how much time each team member devotes to various tasks, which helps with resource planning. But most of all, Project management software is the most convenient storage for the proof of concept that allows easy reference to project leaders.

Online Market Research Tools

Product testing is one of the most acceptable ways to judge your new product’s viability. The most effective strategy to launch excellent products and services is to use user insights, and After-sales services are less necessary once the product has been tested. When testing any resource for your company, you can rely on Poll the People to get reliable results.

Prototyping Tools

A popular method for fast development of a website, program, or app is to use wireframes. To design a wireframe prototype, you can use programs like Adobe, Figma, Canva, or others. In urgency, the ideal platform for testing wireframes is Poll the People because the tests take about an hour to complete.

What Is the Difference Between Pilot, MVP, Prototype, and POC?

MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. It’s a product designed to address early adopters’ needs, but not all of its features. The prototype is used to test the feasibility and scalability of an idea.

A POC allows you to prove your concept before investing in it. Still, it often comes with limitations that make it difficult or impossible for developers like yourself to create something valuable from them. In short, they are the four testing forms in the various phases of product development.

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Continue reading to know the difference between the four testing forms.

Proof of Concept vs. Prototype

The POC is the preprocess that makes the prototype possible. In contrast, POC checks if it is possible to implement the proposed idea into a product that will work to earn a profit.

Meanwhile, the prototype works to check each feature of the proposed product and its functionality. Prototype tests the product before its release and incorporates the necessary improvements in the proof of concept.

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Proof of Concept vs. Pilot

POC is a lab testing in the early stages to know how profitable your idea will be if implemented in the real world.

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Pilots are a real-world test that is of much use during the rolling out of a product. It is to know if the product can survive and stand out amidst the competitors to earn revenue in the market or if improvements are necessary to earn from it.

Proof of Concept vs. Minimum Viable Product

A POC allows you to prove your concept before investing in it. Still, it often comes with limitations that make it difficult or impossible for developers to create something valuable from them.

But the core product Minimum Viable Product (MVP) helps to know if the solution is considered final by you and your team to check if it works to satisfy your prospective customer; if the test proves otherwise, you will need to change your approach.

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Summing Up

A Proof of Concept (POC) is used to determine whether an idea or feature can be delivered successfully with the right features and performance.

You need to test your idea with all its intricacies so that you can understand how people will use it and whether or not they’ll purchase it in large numbers. If there are any issues with these aspects, consider revising your POC before moving forward with further development efforts.

So, now that you know what a Proof of Concept is and how to do one yourself, it’s time to get started.

About The Author

Jinal Lad Mehta is a digital marketer at Middleware & The Next Scoop. She is known for writing creative and engaging content. She loves to help entrepreneurs get their message out into the world. You can find her looking for ways to connect people, ideas, and products.