{"id":16688,"date":"2023-11-24T14:42:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T11:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railsware.com\/blog\/?p=16688"},"modified":"2024-04-18T10:02:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T07:02:22","slug":"rapid-prototyping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/railsware.com\/blog\/rapid-prototyping\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Rapid Prototyping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Research from McKinsey shows that around 50% of product launches fail to hit business targets. The major causes? Poor strategic planning, which includes a lack of risk assessment in early product development. At Railsware, we\u2019ve spent years fine-tuning our development process to avoid these pitfalls. Rapid prototyping is one of our key approaches.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is a guide for product managers and startup founders who want to streamline the early product development process<\/a>. We\u2019ll explain the benefits of rapid prototyping, what sets it apart from other product validation techniques, and how to create a prototype from scratch. So, let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is rapid prototyping in software development?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rapid prototyping is the process of transforming a product idea into a digital, interactive model. We do it to gather feedback from stakeholders and check if a product is worth the time and effort of full-scale development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why \u2018rapid\u2019 though? Because prototyping doesn’t have to be a complex, grueling exercise. Instead, rapid prototyping is about creating a basic, testable model in the least amount of time possible. Like throwaway prototyping<\/a>, it emphasizes the importance of building quickly, minimizing engineering costs, and iterating based on feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a high level, rapid prototyping also has ties to agile approaches like Lean<\/a> (principles: build, measure, learn) and Rapid Application Development<\/a> (RAD). Surprisingly, though, the technique actually originates from the manufacturing industry, where it refers to 3D printing and CAD models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll focus on rapid prototyping as an approach to digital product development (rather than feature development). That said, a lot of our advice still applies to the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapid prototype, POC, MVP – where to start?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Prototype\u2019 is often used interchangeably with proof of concept. It can also be confused with an early-days functional product. But here\u2019s how we differentiate between them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proof of Concept (POC)<\/strong> \u2013 a small-scale test conducted to validate a technical hypothesis<\/a> (e.g. Is this the right tech stack? Can we actually build this API?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Rapid) Prototype<\/strong> \u2013 an interactive visualization or digital model of your product idea (e.g. a clickable product walkthrough in Figma).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)<\/strong> \u2013 a fully functional, early rendition of your product that contains the minimum amount of features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a closer look at the differences between these three development concepts, read POC, Prototype, MVP \u2013 How to Start Small<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not essential to create a POC (in special cases, even a prototype) before building an MVP<\/a>. It really depends on the type of product you\u2019re trying to build. The more unique or technically ambitious your idea is, the more steps your early development process will have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, we usually don\u2019t skip out on prototyping when creating products for ourselves or our clients. In fact, we\u2019ve made it the second main step in our product development process (following product discovery with the BRIDGeS framework<\/a>). For us, rapid prototyping is the most efficient way to assess the form and function of a future product. It\u2019s an excellent vessel for gathering high-quality feedback too. Here are a few other benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of rapid prototyping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n