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Definition and Product prototypes type
There are 7 types of product prototypes that establish clear objectives in the validation cycle of an innovative idea.
The different types of prototypes are grouped according to their objectives within the evolution cycle, from the idea stage to reaching an industry-ready prototype.
- Validate that the idea addresses a real business opportunity.
- Validate that innovative product ideas are technically feasible.
- Minimize investments needed to turn a prototype into a product.
Definition of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) prototype.
The minimum viable product prototype is not a representative version of the idea. The sole purpose of the minimum viable product prototype is to demonstrate that the problem that the inventor has identified exists in other people and not only they suffer from it. The minimum viable product can be a video, a landing page, or another useful medium to describe the value proposition of the idea and measure the reaction of users or potential customers.
Objectives of the minimum viable product prototype.
Measure the behavior of customers who supposedly suffer from an unresolved problem, need, or aspiration, and whom the inventor, with an innovative prototype, intends to solve.
Example of Minimum Viable Product Prototype
Dropbox – The founding team of the technology platform Dropbox, after a resounding and outright failure in a product development process, learned the importance of measuring customer behavior before investing tens of thousands of dollars. Drawing from this experience, they decided to launch a video explaining the value proposition of the future platform, describing the idea, and outlining how the platform would solve the problem of file inaccessibility due to various situations. All of this, before starting the development of an innovative software product.
The minimum viable product prototype, in this case in video format, allowed the founders to measure a set of indicators revealing the connection between the innovative solution or product idea they intended to develop and the interests of their potential customers.
There are different quick ways to create a prototype of a minimum viable product. We can help you create the best prototype.
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Definition of product pre-prototype
The product preprototype is nothing more than an experiment that allows simulating in a natural environment the situation in which users face certain problems, in order to "simulatedly" make them see and experience the solution. In this way, the behavior of users will be measured through a specific simulation of the solution intended to be conveyed with the future prototype or innovative product.
The main difference between a product preprototype and a minimum viable product is that in the case of the minimum viable product, the solution can be transmitted or communicated through any means to measure the behavior or reaction of potential customers. On the other hand, with a product preprototype, the value proposition is communicated with the customer nearby and furthermore the functioning of a product is simulated, similar to the idea intended to be developed as an innovative invention.
Objectives of the pre-prototype
The objective of a preprototype is to measure the reaction of customers to a simulation of responding to a specific problem. With these measurements, we can not only determine that the problem to be solved exists, but also that the form or solution path we intend to develop through a future prototype or product is accepted by potential customers.
Example of a pre-prototype
IBM presented at a fair a system or machine for its famous "Voice to Text" experiment. The main objective for IBM was to demonstrate whether customers at the time were willing to pay or at least showed interest in a machine capable of converting any voice dictation into text, also instantly generating
To validate customer interest before developing a new prototype, IBM brought a large device, with a human inside, who typed in real-time the content received from the voice of the participants at the fair. In this way, the device, with a human inside, was sufficient to demonstrate the interest generated by the solution in the customers.
Manufacturing homemade prototypes.
What is a homemade prototype?
A home prototype is the handmade version of the product often developed by inventors to demonstrate that their invention idea works and solves a real problem. Home prototypes are usually made with existing materials, manually adapted by the inventor to form a less professional prototype but very important, as it is the first approximation to the prototype's functions. Although the home prototype is important, it should not be confused with the economic viability and technical feasibility of a prototype, these aspects must be professionally validated and optimized by product design and development experts.
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What homemade prototypes can I manufacture?
Inventors can create different versions of homemade prototypes. As a common denominator, homemade prototypes are not prepared for approaching the industry, as their components are usually not optimal for mass production of the product. It is possible to create homemade prototypes of appliances and especially mechanical products.
What is a homemade prototype used for?
Homemade prototypes are very useful for conveying the functional requirements of the prototype. By analyzing the characteristics of the homemade prototypes of an invention, the main objectives of the innovative product are defined. Homemade prototypes allow the inventor to express with greater certainty and specificity the objectives they intend to achieve in the product creation cycle.
Definition of 3D prototype
The definition of a 3D prototype is a conceptual design of the idea. Using 3D design tools and mechanical development, it is possible to create a very realistic concept of the 3D prototype. It is important to note that the 3D design of a prototype does not guarantee that the prototype will work or that its components and mechanisms are final. In the process of creating
Objectives of the 3D prototype
A 3D prototype offers a realistic view of the concept of an innovative product intended for development. The ability to design a 3D prototype aims to measure the reaction and behavior of customers when visualizing the product before it exists. The 3D prototype enables inventors and prototype design companies to learn from customer feedback to improve the product's ergonomics and analyze the expectations of potential customers for the future innovative product intended for development. It is important to design more than one 3D prototype; this way, we will present customers with different versions of the 3D prototype to compare their reactions and feedback, especially regarding the anticipated ergonomics of an innovative product.
Example of a 3D prototype
Our team of 3D prototype design and functional prototype manufacturing work hand in hand to connect these stages, keeping in mind that before manufacturing a prototype, it is crucial to test the 3D prototype to assess customer expectations.
For example, currently, we are designing a prototype of a leash useful for walking pets. This leash includes a water reservoir, liquid dispensing system, and a bag dispenser for picking up pet waste. Bringing together all these functional subsystems in a prototype is a challenge in terms of product ergonomics, as the prototype's shape<span style="
Below you can see an example of a 3D prototype that will likely undergo significant improvements and changes based on the initial feedback from future customers.
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Definition of Mockup Prototype
The mockup prototype or product mockup is not the functional prototype. It is a physical representation of the prototype's shape, allowing future customers and the inventor themselves to touch and handle the prototype before integrating the mechanisms or subsystems that enable the functionality of a prototype.
With the mockup prototype, customers can determine the ergonomics of the product, analyze the feasibility based on the size, weight of the prototype, and potential costs associated with manufacturing the outer casings of the prototype.
The product mockup or mockup prototype does not provide insights into the manufacturing costs of a product; this is an objective associated with pre-industrial prototypes.
Product mockups can be constructed using 3D printing techniques, laser cutting machines, and other modern tools that help keep the cost of a product mockup from becoming too excessive. A product mockup must be inexpensive and easily transformable by necessity, as it is an initial prototype that is highly experimental, aiming solely to reach a consensus between the technical viability of the prototype, the anticipated economic viability of a prototype, and the interests and ergonomics of product use.
Objectives of the Mockup Prototype
The product mockup or prototype mockup is useful for determining the ergonomics of the product, simulating usage examples. Similar to the 3D prototype case, it's crucial to manufacture multiple prototype mockups with different shapes and colors. This way, not only can the reaction of future clients be measured, but their feedback regarding the potential use of the different product mockups can also be compared.
Example of a Mockup Prototype
Below are some examples of prototype mockups. The manufacture of prototype mockups has been carried out using 3D printing techniques and commercially available components. With these mockups, the client has been able to validate the ergonomics of the product as well as the expectation it is capable of generating in its future customers. It is important to note that in the stage of manufacturing prototype mockups, it is still too early to patent the idea.
Definition of Functional Prototype
The definition of a functional prototype, as the name suggests, is the first experimental version of a product. A functional prototype is not the final product, quite the opposite. The functional prototype allows for the visualization and validation of the technical feasibility of the invention, demonstrates the usability of the invention, but it is very likely to undergo significant changes during the optimization process by the prototype manufacturing company.
The functional prototype includes the systems and subsystems that enable the functionality of the prototype. With the functional prototype, the inventor client can demonstrate to investors and potential customers that the invention works, but the future prices of an innovative product cannot yet be defined.
The functional prototype already provides sufficient information about the ergonomics of the product in its own use. Moreover, the functional prototype allows proceeding with the description of the specification of a patent to protect the claims of innovation of the innovative product.
Es muy importante fabricar un prototipo funcional en procesos anteriores a la presentación de la patente, sobre todo, porque en la fábrica de inventos se consiguen mejoras para abaratar la futura fabricación industrial del prototipo, mejorar la ergonomía de un producto y analizar el comportamiento del mercado al interactuar con el prototipo funcional.
The prices of a functional prototype are determined by the workload of the expert engineering team in prototype development, rather than by the components that allow the functional prototype to have real use. Currently, the components and manufacturing of mechanical systems for the prototype are not expensive, what is really costly in the process of manufacturing a functional prototype is the cost of the hours of the expert engineering team in product development.
The prices of a functional prototype are not comparable to the price the final product will have in the future, especially because the functional prototype is manufactured using artisanal techniques that allow for continuous alteration of the shape of the functional prototype. In summary, the functional prototype remains an experimental version of the product, where the most important aspect is the speed at which changes are applied to the
Objectives of the Functional Prototype
The objective of a functional prototype is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of an invention. The functional prototype allows for assessing the ergonomics of using a product, as well as the general reaction of potential customers to a product. The objective of a functional prototype is not to make money by selling </span
Example of a functional prototype
At Let's Prototype, we have manufactured more than 200 functional prototypes in recent years. We have experience manufacturing functional prototypes for various industries: Mechanical prototypes, furniture prototypes, kitchen utensil prototypes, appliance prototypes, industrial machine prototypes, agricultural prototypes, technological prototypes for the medical industry, textile functional prototypes among other types of prototypes with significant market impact.
Definition of Pre-Industrial Prototype
The pre-industrial prototype is a very advanced version of a product. It is impossible to manufacture a pre-industrial prototype before going through the prototype stages previously described. The prototype creation cycle or product creation process cannot be seen as a linear process. The cycle of creating an innovative product is a continuous learning process that allows validation of the ergonomics of the product as well as the real usability of the prototype's functions.</span
Once enough has been learned from the previous prototype versions, the pre-industrial prototype can be manufactured. This prototype allows for the analysis of different techniques available for industrializing the prototype, that is, mass-producing a product. With this analysis of industrial methods, the pre-industrial prototype is configured. At this point, the steps to manufacture the product as well as the manufacturing costs of an innovative product can be determined.
Objectives of Pre-Industrial Prototype
The main objectives of a pre-industrial prototype are:
- Determine the industrial manufacturing costs of the product.
- Learn about the acceptance of the functional prototype.
- Determine the documentation required for mass production of a product.
In the pre-industrial prototype manufacturing process, the prototype documentation must be prepared. The prototype documentation is the Blueprint for manufacturing the product, it is a detailed list that provides all the components that make up the prototype as well as the notebook of blueprints of the prototype parts and pieces. With this information, an exploration is made in the industry of the different industrial methods for manufacturing a product as well as the possible suppliers necessary for manufacturing. The prototype documentation is essential for preparing the business plan, as with this information, the product prices after mass production can be determined.
Example of Pre-Industrial Prototype
At Let's Prototype, we have developed several pre-industrial prototypes. Below are images of an innovative product for the tobacco industry.
Most smokers or collectors of Habanos cigars are very concerned about the relative humidity inside their Habanos cigar containers. Relative humidity conditions their preservation, hence the importance of making decisions to maintain relative humidity within appropriate parameters.
At Let's Prototype, a pre-industrial prototype has been developed consisting of an IOT device capable of connecting to the user's mobile phone, where the parameters of acceptable relative humidity for the proper preservation of Habanos cigars are configured. The IOT device can remain in energy-saving mode for many hours, waking up and taking a daily reading to ensure that the environment is in the appropriate preservation conditions. If not, the IOT device sends an alert signal to the user's mobile phone, indicating the incorrect measurement taken and providing some recommendations to ensure an adequate environment inside the humidor.
After manufacturing several prototypes, a pre-industrial prototype has been developed consisting of electronic elements and an ergonomic product design that is small enough to not affect the capacity of the Habanos cigar preservation humidors.
Currently, using prototype manufacturing techniques, a IOT prototype ready for mass production has been achieved. In this case, the pre-industrial prototype itself is already available for sale on major platforms, such as Amazon, which is a very suitable environment for measuring the reaction and acceptance of the prototype by customers.
Types of product prototypes
Prototipos ergonómicos
Meaning of ergonomics
The ergonomics of a product are defined by its design-level capacity to adapt to user needs. Ergonomics considers the characteristics, abilities, and also the limitations of users when they have to use the product in the natural environment where the problem that the product intends to solve arises. To design an ergonomic product, it is essential to understand how users interact with the product, where they use it, and how the size, weight, and shape of the product adapt to the situation or use cases.
Ergonomics principles in product design.
To design an ergonomic product, the following critical points or fundamentals of product design must be addressed:
Variation of users | Differences in user body size Attention to the strength of users and the effort required to use the prototype. Skills of the user typology for which the product is intended. Sensory perception of the type of users targeted by the product. Personal preferences of the type of users. Knowing other products that the user already uses to solve different problems. |
Measurement of effort | Simulate environments and situations in which the product can be used. This way, the user-product relationship can be experienced. |
Risk analysis | Laboratory tests to evaluate risks of entrapment, puncture injuries, or cuts that the product may pose. Taking these results into account, the shape of the product as well as the choice of materials for critical parts in the interaction will be determined. Analyzing the postures that the user will have to adopt to use the product and the exposure time of these postures will be a fundamental element. |
Restricciones normativas | Laboratory tests to evaluate risks of entrapment, puncture injuries, or cuts that the product may pose. Taking these results into account, the shape of the product as well as the choice of materials for critical parts in the interaction will be determined. Analyzing the postures that the user will have to adopt to use the product and the exposure time of these postures will be a fundamental element. |
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