When you’re going to sell something impactful—and expensive—it is only natural that the buyer wants to make decidedly sure that it’ll work. Salespeople show case studies, testimonials, and demos to convince the buyer. When the stakes are high, that’s not enough.
Enter proof of concept. In this blog post, we explore what it is and how you can use it to further your organizational goals.
How to Create a Proof of Concept (With Examples)
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is a Proof of Concept?
A Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small-scale implementation of a large program used to demonstrate the feasibility of a project or idea. It is often the first step to starting a project.
It is like baking a sample batch of cupcakes before committing to cater to a party. It lets you test the recipe, experiment with presentation, demonstrate packaging and delivery, and confirm the taste, without investing in a full-scale effort.
A well-executed PoC provides numerous advantages for teams considering the viability of new projects. The most significant ones are as follows.
Validation
PoC helps ensure that an idea is technically feasible and worth pursuing. It helps to ensure that the concept will work as intended before committing significant resources.
Stakeholder buy-in
A successful proof of concept builds trust and support among stakeholders, investors, or clients. It provides concrete evidence that the idea is viable and can deliver the expected benefits.
Risk management
With a PoC, teams can identify potential challenges and limitations in a controlled environment. This minimizes the risk of unexpected problems during full-scale implementation.
Resource efficiency
With a PoC, teams can gauge the skills they need and extrapolate them more accurately for the larger project. This helps in budgeting, forecasting, and allocating resources efficiently.
Innovation
PoC encourages experimentation and innovation. Teams can test new ideas with shorter timelines and small budgets without the fear of failure.
Many of these benefits are also offered by prototypes and MVPs. So, what is the difference between them?
Summarize this article for me pleaseUnderstanding the Differences: Proof of Concept, Prototype, and MVP
In a way, PoCs, prototypes, and minimum viable products (MVP) are ways to build something small to test a larger idea. But the similarities end there.
In the product development process, each of them serves a unique purpose and is used at different stages. Grasping these differences helps teams choose the right approach to bring their ideas to life.
| Aspect | Proof of Concept (PoC) | Prototype | Minimum Viable Product (MVP) |
| Purpose | To validate the feasibility of a large-scale project idea or concept | To visualize and test the design and user experience | To launch a basic version of the product to the market |
| Scope | Narrow, focused on a single user group, location, or feature | Broad, includes UX of several features and functionality | Broad, includes core features needed for early users |
| Development effort | Minimal, just enough to demonstrate feasibility | Moderate, requires creating a working model | High, requires a functional product ready for users |
| Audience | Business stakeholders and decision-makers | Business teams and select users among target audience | Early adopters and real users |
| Risk | Identifies potential technical challenges early | Uncovers design and usability issues | Validates market demand and product-market fit |
| Feedback type | Technical feasibility feedback | Design and usability feedback | Market and user feedback |
| Cost | Low | Moderate | Moderate to high |
| Timeframe | Short | Medium | Long |
Essentially, use:
- PoC to validate the feasibility of an idea before investing significant resources
- Prototype to explore and refine the design and user experience of your product
- MVP when you are ready to introduce your product to the market with just enough features to attract early adopters and gather real-world user feedback
Bonus: Use these product roadmap templates to plan the phased approach to your software development process.
Given you’re reading this article on PoCs, let’s assume you need to validate the feasibility of an idea and understand the steps toward that.
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe Steps to Creating a Reliable Proof of Concept
There are a number of factors that influence the success of a proof of concept. So, you need a systematic approach to creating one. Here’s a tried-and-tested framework for implementing a proof of concept process, using a project management tool like ClickUp and an example of a fitness tracking app.
1. Narrow down from the larger program
A proof of concept is essentially a small implementation of a larger project plan. To choose the right aspect to prove the concept with, you need to be clear on your larger vision. Start big and narrow down to your PoC.
- What: Define what the PoC will validate (it helps to document all possibilities in an
idea management software and choose the most suitable ones) - Why: Outline what you aim to achieve with the PoC
- How: Establish success criteria for feasibility and performance; make sure there are SMART goals that help make decisions
- Who: Include stakeholders who will make the decisions
If you’re building a fitness tracking app, this step would involve choosing the part of the app to validate, like a new workout tracking algorithm.
New to PoCs? Try ClickUp’s high level project plan template to get started.
2. Conduct initial research
Research the proposed proof of concept to estimate cost, timelines, and resource requirements.
Study
Use historical data from similar projects to conduct a feasibility study. Understand the various factors influencing project success.
Forecasting
Divide the project into smaller, manageable tasks to estimate costs and timelines for them. Identify dependencies and adjust accordingly.
Risk management
List potential risks that could impact the timeline, budgets, or delivery itself. Consult senior team members who might contribute to the PoC for deeper insights.
In case of the fitness tracking app, you might conduct product discovery to understand performance, sensor accuracy, and data processing limitations of existing solutions.
Use a note-taking tool like ClickUp Docs to document and analyze this research. Share it with project stakeholders for comments and feedback. Edit collaboratively and convert insights into action automatically using ClickUp Tasks.
3. Plan the PoC
Define the scope of your proof of concept. Outline everything you will do, such as the features you’ll build, quality control mechanisms you’ll implement, infrastructure you’ll provision etc.
- Break the PoC down into tasks
- Write detailed descriptions of the features you will build as part of the PoC
- Add time estimates for each task
- Use checklists to set up the acceptance criteria
- Assign users who will complete those tasks
- Add start dates and deadlines to stay on track
- Use custom fields to add any other information unique to your POC
While you’re planning your PoC, remember to limit the scope to features essential for validating the concept.
For the fitness app, you would outline development of the new algorithm step-by-step, and set it up on your project management tools with all necessary details.
Don’t be intimidated by a clean slate on your project management tool. Use the ClickUp’s Example Project Plan Template to:
- Create detailed plans with intuitive visuals
- Organize tasks for efficient collaboration among teams
- Track progress against goals for timely completion of the project
Bonus: More proof-of-concept templates to adapt and customize to your needs.
4. Build the PoC
With a concrete plan in hand, it’s time for project initiation and execution. At this stage, it also helps to capture the information necessary to evaluate the success of your PoC.
For instance, invite users to track the time taken for each task, which you can compare to estimates later.
In the case of the fitness tracker, develop the algorithm and integrate it with basic input/output functions for initial testing. Ensure that the PoC includes the minimum necessary interface to collect workout data and display results.
5. Test and evaluate
Once you’ve built the PoC, it’s time to test and evaluate its success based on the objectives and performance indicators you set earlier. Any of the product development templates you use must give you the ability to measure outcomes. Especially for a PoC, consider the following.
Measure performance
Evaluate if the project has met its objectives. Set up widgets for key metrics on ClickUp Dashboards to track performance in real-time.
Also, measure the variance. For instance, if you’ve achieved 70% of objectives, that is still an important lesson.
Benchmark
Compare this performance to previous projects or industry standards to gauge the PoC’s relative success.
Build decision support
Create reports that help stakeholders decide whether to proceed with full-scale development, make modifications, or abandon the idea altogether.
For the fitness tracking app PoC, performance indicators might include the accuracy of workout tracking, user engagement levels, and processing speed.
Test the algorithm’s accuracy and performance across different workout types and environments. Use a variety of devices to ensure the algorithm works well on different hardware.
6. Document findings
PoCs are critical for two reasons: To make decisions about large implementations and to learn quickly about potential challenges. For both these purposes, documentation can be a life-changer.
Good documentation throughout the lifecycle of the PoC helps clarify ideas, think through challenges, note down failed solutions, and prevent repeating mistakes.
Before you make decisions about expanding your PoC, document your findings. Ensure that you document the entire PoC process, with quantitative and qualitative outcomes. Include visual data representations and specific feedback from stakeholders when possible.
For the fitness tracking app, you’d have to document the algorithm’s performance across various devices, lessons from any variance, challenges you encountered, solutions that didn’t work, why the final solution worked, etc.
7. Make decisions
If the algorithm performs well, plan for integration into the full app and additional feature development. If the algorithm does not meet success criteria, consider alternative approaches or further research into project design. If the algorithm is nowhere near your expectations, abandon the idea and think of something else.
Summarize this article for me pleaseImplementing Proof of Concept in Real-world Scenarios
In software development, PoC is used to validate the technical feasibility of a new feature, technology, or architecture before full-scale implementation. It is done by:
- Focusing on the most innovative or technically challenging aspects of the project
- Developing a simplified version to test the core functionality
- Conducting thorough testing to ensure the PoC works as intended
- Gathering feedback from developers, testers, and stakeholders to refine the idea and address any identified issues
- Documenting results and using the insights to plan the larger implementation better
However, PoCs aren’t a software industry phenomenon. Teams across industries and practices use PoCs as a pilot project or to build a strong business case. In project management and business development, PoC is used for slightly different reasons, such as:
- Demonstrating business value quickly and at low costs
- Implementing a solution for a small group of test users before org-wide launch
- Improving processes by using a new project management or automation tool
- Mitigating risks by identifying them early and building solutions into the PoC itself
- Getting stakeholder buy-in by demonstrating the viability of new ideas to investors to secure funding and support
By demonstrating the feasibility and potential of new concepts, PoCs pave the way for groundbreaking advancements and successful market entries. It’s no wonder that some of the world’s most successful organizations have used proofs of concept to great success.
Below, we explore some compelling proof of concept examples that not only transformed their respective industries but also set new standards for innovation and development.
These cases highlight the strategic importance of PoCs in turning visionary ideas into reality, showcasing how initial small-scale implementations can lead to significant, large-scale successes.
Dropbox
In 2007, Drew Houston, a student at MIT, kept forgetting his USB flash drive and was left hanging when he needed to transfer files.
He imagined a solution that didn’t need him to remember or carry a physical device. This idea led to the concept of Dropbox: a cloud-based file storage and synchronization service.
In the early stages of cloud computing and online communication, this idea was entirely new. He needed to visually demonstrate to collaborators and investors how this works. So, Dropbox created a PoC in the form of a video walkthrough of the functionality of their file-sharing service. This helped validate market interest and gather user feedback, leading to successful product development.
Slack
In 2011, Stewart Butterfield, Eric Costello, Cal Henderson, and Serguei Mourachov were developing a game called Glitch. For the agile team that worked together often, their internal communication tool was ineffective.
So, they created Slack as an internal tool to solve their own problems. Later, when the game Glitch didn’t take off, the team decided to pivot to the communication tool.
The early version of Slack they developed for internal use served as a proof of concept for the multi-billion dollar product it is today. By testing and refining the tool in a real-world environment, the team was able to validate its effectiveness and potential market value.
Airbnb
In 2007, roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, were struggling to pay steep San Francisco rents. They were thinking of sharing or sub-letting their apartment.
During this time, they noticed that a major design conference was coming to town. Hotels around the venue were fully booked or insanely expensive.
In this, they saw an opportunity: why not rent out their living room to conference attendees? Though it seemed like a great idea, they weren’t sure anyone would actually rent their place, let alone pay for it.
To test their idea, Chesky and Gebbia set up a website called Air Bed & Breakfast. They offered air mattresses in their living room and breakfast for conference attendees. The first guests paid $80 each to stay for a few nights.
This version of Airbnb served as the proof of a concept that otherwise seemed too fantastical to implement. By setting up an Airbnb in their own homes, they proved that there is a market for homestays.
Summarize this article for me pleaseStart Small and Win Big With ClickUp
A proof of concept is a proven way to build trust among those skeptical of making investments in your idea. In sales, proof of concept demonstrates confidence. In project management, it shows prudence and agility. In marketing, it helps build customer insights steadily over time.
Across all these applications, ensuring the success of a proof of concept is the foundation of bigger things to come. Therefore, project managers need to be careful and prudent in implementing a PoC.
ClickUp’s project management software is designed to help with exactly that. Across tasks, checklists, docs, collaboration tools, and dashboards, ClickUp has everything you need to make your PoC successful.
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