Why make an app prototype?
App production is hard, expensive, and time-intensive. An easy way to start a mobile app creation adventure is not with coding, but by making a mobile app prototype. Making an app prototype is cheap, fast, and does not need to be perfect so you can relax. Below we will cover what an app prototype is, and the benefits you can get from making one.
What is an app prototype?
This Rafayel Mkrtchyan quote sums it up. It looks and smells like a finished app, but it’s not. It’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. No one has to know it is not a fully functioning app. Even though it’s not a functioning app, you can reap some perks that would come from a finished app.
Why make a prototype?
Build it and they will come, unfortunately, is not true. If you spent 1 billion dollars making the ultimate app and you do so in isolation, without user feedback, you are in for a surprise. The first release of your app is only half the battle, you still have to work on user acquisition, retention, and app tweaks.
To improve one’s app we have to iterate, adding features, removing bugs making it have better UX. Each iteration hopefully, but not necessarily, improves your app’s performance. With each iteration comes work for developers, designers, marketers, and project managers. That $hit is expensive. You can reduce that cost by simply making a prototype. With a prototype, you can start iterating without incurring fees from the whole app squad.
We want to start the iteration processes as soon as we can. If you can find out what your users what or if they even are interested in your app, before you make it, you are saving a huge amount of resources. We can get this information with a prototype.
Are you working on an app?
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Marketing benefits for having an app prototype
Perhaps the most valuable thing you can get from a prototype is figuring out if there is a market for your app before you make it. This can save you a huge amount of time. I have made several landing pages for apps knowing they were billion-dollar ideas only to find out that I could not get 10 user email sign-ups. Fortunately for me, development had not started. Building an app can take a long time. Making a prototype is quick.
- Discover if there is a market for your app before you start coding. Test the market with your prototype. Find out what your landing page email capture rate is.
- Start marketing while development is commencing. A picture says a thousand words. How many words does a prototype say? A prototype makes it easier for users to understand what your app does. This makes marketing your app easier.
Product benefits for having an app prototype
You can start evolving the product side of your app with a prototype. We can prevent discovering your app needs something more before a released version hits shelves. You may find that your app is perfect for you, but when you give the app/prototype to someone else, they may point out the obvious and say, “where is the pause button?”
- Building a prototype will give clarity to your product before spending money on development. You may discover from playing with a prototype you need additional features or you should remove some.
- Get user feedback on your app before code completion. Find out what is and what is not working. A prototype can help you decide what goes into your MVP.
- You can make product iterations before development starts. Use user feedback to improve your app. The more and the faster your iterations the better.
- You can expose holes in-app logic by building a prototype. Prevent having a late-stage app project with logistic holes. “What happens if x user does not pay?”
You can make the start of the app process easy with a prototype. It will require minimal investment, you can get a basic sense of the market, you can get insights on how your app should be before you make it, and you can show something off. A prototype can be an easy first step for your app journey.
Making your prototype
If you are interested in making a prototype you can check out Steve Glaveski’s list of 12 types of prototypes. Below you will find nice examples that you can quickly implement to get a prototype off the ground and start receiving feedback fast.
Alternatively, if you would like some hands-on guidance, appmeetups is hosting a free workshop where you can learn how to build a mobile app prototype. No experience is required and you can walk away with how to make a prototype.
My name is Spencer Depas, I am a freelance mobile product specialist and app entrepreneur. I hope this has been helpful. If you are interested in apps please reach out and let’s chat. I love apps and I like networking in the app space. If you have any prototype questions or you would like a hand with an app question please reach out or leave a comment.
