Developing An App – Episode 4 – Create a Prototype App
If the development costs of your app are currently beyond your budget, and an MVP approach as discussed in episode 3 of this series is not a viable option, then building of a prototype with a Market Analysis Report to present to your board or chosen funding provider could be your best approach.
It is also worth considering that even if you have the funding in place, the prototype route can also be used to obtain valuable information from your target market users. Create a user group of potential clients who can provide constructive feedback on the prototype; its look, feel, navigation, functionality. This can provide you with valuable feedback that can be incorporated into the development process early on in its lifecycle. As a general rule within the software development community, the further down the road you are in the development process when you add a new a feature, the potentially greater the cost of that feature because you may have to go back previously completed stages and make a change to that coding.
A prototype will basically be a ‘working’ model of your app but all the values shown (such as name and address, a profile picture or a product list) are hard coded into the app itself. You can navigate through a typical process but everything shown on screen will be pre-populated. There may be other functions and options within the app shown on screen but these will not function but they will be there for discussion purposes. This will convey the use of the app to any investor but it will not have all the coding and database in the background. Thus the cost of a prototype will be far less than the full development of the app and more importantly it’s not wasted capital. When you do obtain funding the missing coding and database can then be built and added to the existing designs
To accompany the prototype work, your developer should also be in a position to provide you with a Market Analysis Report. This would accompany your prototype and build the cornerstone for any presentation. It should contain information and data on your chosen target market, the market need, competitor analysis, barriers to entry and any regulations that may be in place that could have an adverse affect. Within this MAR you can also incorporate some of the findings from the prototype user group to further substantiate your case.