So You’ve Got a Great Idea – Creating a Proof of Concept
31 July, 2010 -
So you have an idea. A great idea. The kind of idea that could change the world. An idea so amazing that you’re afraid to tell anyone about it – even your mother. People have started looking at you strangely because you’ve become so paranoid that you’re afraid someone will read your mind and steal The Idea.
But will your idea work?
When you have an idea for a new product, you should be able to explain what it is, what need it will fulfill and how it will do so. It’s also important to be able to prove, at least hypothetically, that your solution is capable of everything you think it is before you or anyone else invests in the idea. In other words, you need a proof-of concept (PoC). A PoC is used to carefully examine the need for a proposed solution early in its development cycle, and to figure out exactly what solution is required and how it will play out in the real world. This solution can be anything from a new type of electrical circuit, to a new medication, to a piece of hardware or software.
By testing your idea in a PoC, you will be better able to determine how feasible the idea is, identify potential stumbling blocks, determine what features a given platform can or can’t provide and establish the scope and level of customization necessary to complete the project. If something either doesn’t work or is unfeasible, this is also a valid outcome – if you had skipped this step, you would have invested unnecessary resources in launching a product that doesn’t actually meet your needs. In other words “let’s not do it” is a valuable result, primarily because you’ll have invested a relatively small amount of time and money and saved yourself from an investment that would have been much more costly!
Moreover, when looking for outside investors for your company or project, a proof of concept is usually required to demonstrate that the proposal is fiscally sound. For example, a company interested in developing a new suite of software would look at market demand, feasibility of the project, projected cost, and other factors.
Your PoC should provide basic details regarding the need you are addressing. What type of individual, business or organization typically encounters this need? In what type of situation and at what point in the organization’s “life cycle”? Include a detailed description of the environment in which this need arises; for example, the PoC for a new software solution should include such details as the underlying hardware infrastructure and the operating system(s) in which this need is encountered.
You may also want to briefly touch upon any existing solutions that are currently available and explain why they are not viable or complete solutions to the described need, while providing evidence that your solution is a better one. Describe your proposed solution in detail, together with all its features and capabilities. To continue with the previous example, this means including mockups of the user interface (e.g., all possible menus, screens, tabs, graphs, etc) as well as a list of the available modules, functions, sub-functions and so forth. Where relevant, explain how things will look and feel for different possible user roles. If your solution will incorporate third party tools or technologies, which ones and why? How will these additions be integrated into your solution? What obstacles have you foreseen and how will you address them? In software especially, security is often a primary concern, as is compliance with any existing standards and regulations.
Be sure to address the financial and logistical aspects as well. How much is it costing the hypothetical customer to leave this need unresolved or to address it using other available solutions, and how much will it cost them to implement your solution? Explain the implementation process in detail: what is involved and how long it will take? Finally, describe how everything will play out in one or two test cases and check whether any adjustments need to be made.
It’s important to note that a PoC is not the same as a pilot project. A proof of concept is intended to prove any assumptions in a non-production environment with no end-user involved, while a pilot’s goal is to verify, on the production network with live data and real end-users, that the vision of the project is being addressed.
© Image courtesy of D’Arcy Norman