What does proof of concept mean

Accessed 11 Nov. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of proof of concept. Powell Malware and virus-writing used to be something hobbyist hackers did for fun, as proofs of concept. Not anymore. First Known Use of proof of concept , in the meaning defined above. Learn More About proof of concept. Proof-of-concept short films are also used in filmmaking to explore the possibility of using new untested techniques that are particularly challenging or expensive.

POC in software development describes distinct processes with different objectives and participant roles. POC may also refer to partial solutions involving users acting in business roles to establish whether a system satisfies certain requirements. The overall objective of POC is to find solutions to technical problems, such as how systems can be integrated or throughput can be achieved through a given configuration.

In the business world, POC is how startups demonstrate that a product is financially viable. POC involves extensive research and review, and is submitted as a single package to concerned parties. It includes the examination of the revenue model, in which companies show projected revenue from products and services, and indicate development cost, long-term financial projections and how much the service costs to maintain and market. It is an excellent way for a business to evaluate itself internally and for proposed acquisitions and projects.

A proof of concept is not a prototype, although the two concepts share common ground. A POC is usually tested before a fully functional prototype is developed, and is needed to show that the idea works in practice. It is a test that verifies the robustness of the idea itself and explores the validity of the concept from a theoretical point of view.

A prototype, on the other hand, is a working model of the product itself that shows how it functions and its technical details. By: Justin Stoltzfus Contributor, Reviewer.

By: Satish Balakrishnan. Dictionary Dictionary Term of the Day. Natural Language Processing. In this way, companies can determine their capacity for working with additional production. For instance, a proposed product that begins with five essential components can then have 10 as the company scales it.

Another is when managers need to spend on sudden product changes that can go beyond the project budget. Before project managers can request resources for their proposal, they should show their stakeholders that the investment will be worth it. POCs give project managers that opportunity.

Through POCs, they can illustrate the usability and profitability of the idea. They can show the product idea in detail with illustrations and visuals to provide the presentation with sufficient data. By doing so, project leaders can better convince the enterprise to commit the needed resources to develop the idea.

POCs also allow stakeholders to assess the idea giving them a varied form of win-loss or cost-benefit analysis. If the proposed venture fails, tons of resources could go to waste that could have been invested in more productive initiatives. If project managers can prove that they have an airtight idea and the right measures to mitigate possible losses, they can better compel stakeholders to accept their proposal.

The POC process has five basic steps that project teams can follow, from developing the idea to firming it up and presenting it to the investors. When presenting their POC, project leaders must establish the need for the product by mentioning who the target market is and what their pain points are. They need to get actual and verified answers. Project leaders can acquire these responses by interviewing a representative sample of customers.

Pro tip: Interview a sample group of customers to understand and verify their pain points. The team should then assess each brainstormed solution according to the likely costs, timeline, technologies needed, required operational capacities, competition, resources, and other factors. They can even narrow down the list of ideas to the most feasible ones and finalize their proposed product.

Pro tip: Welcome half-baked ideas. Once the team has arrived at a feasible idea, they should create a prototype based on the decided requirements, features, and solutions. The project team must let the individuals in their sample group try and test the completed prototype.

This is so they can quickly determine whether the product truly addressed the pain points shared by the group. Testing it with the same group enables the team to document their feedback more easily, which is essential to the next step. The gathered feedback lets the project team initially verify the usability and feasibility of the solution.

It also informs the team of any needed improvements to the proposed product and gives significant insight for other relevant actions moving forward.

Pro tip: Use a cloud-based platform to obtain feedback. With the concept tested and improved based on the feedback, the project team can now prepare their presentation to the stakeholders. They must present, among other things, the pain points that the product solves, features that address those problems, and technologies integrated to demonstrate the value of the idea.

They should elaborate on the product development and project management components, which they should also note in their project tracker. These include clearly defined success criteria or project management metrics , evaluation measures, timelines, next project management plans should it be approved , resources needed, and other aspects discussed earlier. Once the team successfully presents the idea and persuades the stakeholders to approve and invest, they can begin to implement it.

Pro tip: Put more emphasis on the benefits that your product brings, instead of its features. A POC helps businesses see if a proposed idea is practical and attractive for the target market and achievable for the company. Through the POC, project teams can explore the planned components and functionalities of the ideated product, along with the costs, resources, and capacities required to make it work. From these details, companies can better assess the readiness of the newly developed solutions for adoption on a wider scale, approve of the idea, and decide to invest in its implementation.

The template includes a layout with all the sections you need for a stellar proposal, including descriptions and what information to include in each section. It also comes with a pre-built table of contents! Easily save this file to your computer or print it using the link below. You will also receive an email with your download. The Motley Fool has a Disclosure Policy. While not the cheapest option, it's worth paying more for this tool's functionality and painless onboarding process.

Heralding from a well-known brand name, Microsoft Project is a complex project management tool. After the learning curve, PMs can do almost anything — as long as they live in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Score is the rare blend of a corporate-minded project management tool in an intuitive form. This software comes at a hefty price tag but comes with a tons of features and functionality.

Asana is a unique project management software that prioritizes both team and project manager. The platform is easy-to-use and motivates all team members to manage their projects to their own benefit. Project management software helps companies improve collaboration, manage resources and budgets, schedule, forecast, document and track all of their short- and long-term collaborative projects.

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