What is a proof of concept and why is it important?
A proof of concept is a step in the development process where you observe and measure the quality of your company’s product or service when it’s being used by customers or users.
Designing a proof of concept can be tricky, as every implementation will be unique and different. However, there are five key principles you should follow when building a proof of concept:
1) Make sure that you have a clear mission statement
2) Make sure you have defined objectives (e.g., growth, revenues, customer acquisition)
3) Make sure you have a clear strategy for monetization – where do you want to take your business?
4) Find the technology you need to validate your business model
5) Find the end user who will be using or buying your product or providing feedback on it – how will they use your product? How will they react to it? How will they react to it in situations like this?
What are the key elements of a proof of concept?
We all know that the best way to learn anything is to do it. But how can you do that?
The first step is knowing what you’re trying to prove, and how to prove it. A proof of concept (POC) is a way to communicate a desired outcome, or some aspect of one, using only available data. It doesn’t have to be a complicated thing to explain: A POC can be as simple as “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” or “Couldn’t we…?” or “If we did this, this would happen…”
Providing an explanation for why something should happen is like building a house out of only bricks – it doesn’t mean the house will be built – but at least we have an idea what kind of walls the house will have.
How to write a proof of concept: The basics
How do you write a proof of concept? A proof of concept is a story, or document, that demonstrates your idea’s concept and value.
The goal of your proof of concept is to show others how your product will benefit them or their business. Your customers don’t care about the specifics of your idea, they care about whether it works or not. So you have to demonstrate how your product will benefit them in two ways: by demonstrating its value to them and by demonstrating its benefits to other parties.
A good example is a customer service representative who can answer questions about the product, convince new customers to buy it, and solve customer problems for more than one person at the same time. The success of a proof of concept depends on how well it accomplishes these three goals. What made the first few examples of proofs-of-concept so effective?
Was there an upfront price? Did one get the user’s email address in exchange for signing up for something no one else wanted? Was there a unique benefit other than an email address that would result in more users subscribing? Were early adopters referred by word of mouth? Or did they sign up based on reviews? Did they sign up as soon as they saw the product being tested or before anyone else did?
Once you have figured out what exactly you want to prove (demonstrating that you have solved a problem), then write a story/document that shows how your solution solves this problem.
How to write a proof of concept: More advanced tips
Now that we have a clear understanding of how to structure a company and its products, let’s talk about how to write a proof of concept.
Here are some tips:
1) Begin with the market, not the problem.
Your proof of concept should be centered around your company solving an actual problem or need that exists in the market. A startup may have an app that helps people manage their accounts, but they don’t have to start there. Once they have identified an existing problem, they can move on to figuring out how their product solves it — or at least help them do so better.
2) Don’t be afraid to look at other companies who solve problems similar to yours.
If you are trying to solve a problem xyz and you cannot find anyone else that does the same thing, go ahead and start your own company by saying, “I am going to build my own enterprise software for XYZ.” But remember: your proof of concept has to be unique from others because ultimately you want your customers to come and join you instead of one another in forming their opinions about your product/company as a whole. If other companies already solve this problem (and potentially many more), why would it make sense for you?
3) Be very specific about what makes your product unique from others who do the same thing in the same space (e.g., “I will build my own enterprise software for XYZ…”). This requires careful writing and research because no two companies solve exactly the same problems (see #1). Use the language of business terms (e.g., enterprise software) rather than buzzwords like “product-market fit” or “innovative solutions” because these terms are often used interchangeably with each other and may even come across as arrogant or condescending if used improperly (“innovative solutions”). The goal is not simply creating something different—it must be something that solves a real problem that existing players either cannot or will not address yet (e.g., “I will use advanced machine learning algorithms” vs “I will use machine learning algorithms” — pick one!). Your competition should be able to answer any questions you may have about how this might work in practice versus just seeing it on paper (“How does this proposed solution compare against what else is already being done?”). If anything is unclear here, try asking more detailed questions outside of specific examples
How to make your proof of concept stand out
Most companies that have a proof of concept don’t understand the importance of being able to say “I built this thing!”. They just want to show the world what they can do, and they would rather have a simple whiteboard in front of everyone showing their app in action than spend time writing a long and short version of their product.
The proof of concept is not just something that looks good on paper and is easy to understand. It has to be as easy for people to use as possible, it has to be very easy for them to get any actionable value from it, and it must be simple enough for anyone who knows how to code or how to build software in general (whoever is using your product) could implement it themselves without having any formal training or tech background. The proof of concept is everything you need to show your company why your product will work before you actually build it.
Conclusion: Key takeaways for writing a proof of concept
There’s no easy path to finding the right proof of concept, but I outline some of the key steps that I’ve taken to help me get there.
The first step is to identify whether the problem you are solving needs solving. If not, then you can use this activity to focus on an existing solution or create a new solution.
If it does need solving, then you have to think about the problem thoroughly and deeply. You need to come up with a clear idea of what exactly you want people to notice when they look at your design — what should be obvious, what should be subtle and subjective, and how will this information impact them? Once you have your idea ready, it’s time for the next step: Start thinking about a way for people to test this idea out. Once again, it doesn’t matter if your proof of concept is going to be a website or even an app!
Once you get this far down the road and have identified a way for people to test out your idea, it’s time for confidence building. Your goal here is not just showing that your idea has merit as an application in real life (which would almost certainly have already happened by now), but also getting people excited about using your project — so that they want to spread the word about it!
Lastly, make sure that your proof of concept is clear with respect to its benefits and downsides — especially if it’s going to become part of a larger business initiative. You don’t want people running around advertising bad practices in other businesses using your project as well!
