Software Prototyping Overview
The Software Prototyping refers to building software application prototypes which display the functionality of the product under development but may not actually hold the exact logic of the original software.
Software prototyping is becoming very popular as a software development model,
as it enables to understand customer requirements at an early stage of development. It helps get valuable feedback from the customer and helps software designers and developers understand about what exactly is expected from the product under development.
What is Software Prototyping?
Prototype is a working model of software with some limited functionality. The prototype does not always hold the exact logic used in the actual software application and is an extra effort to be considered under effort estimation. Prototyping is used to allow the users evaluate developer proposals and try them out before implementation. It also helps understand the requirements which are user specific and may not have been considered by the developer during product design.
Following is the stepwise approach to design a software prototype:
• Basic Requirement Identification
This step involves understanding the very basics product requirements especially
in terms of user interface. The more intricate details of the internal design and external aspects like performance and security can be ignored at this stage.
• Developing the initial Prototype
The initial Prototype is developed in this stage, where the very basic
requirements are showcased and user interfaces are provided. These features
may not exactly work in the same manner internally in the actual software
developed and the workarounds are used to give the same look and feel to the customer in the prototype developed.
• Review of the Prototype
The prototype developed is then presented to the customer and the other
important stakeholders in the project. The feedback is collected in an organized manner and used for further enhancements in the product under development.
• Revise and enhance the Prototype
The feedback and the review comments are discussed during this stage and
some negotiations happen with the customer based on factors like , time and
budget constraints and technical feasibility of actual implementation. The
changes accepted are again incorporated in the new Prototype developed and the cycle repeats until customer expectations are met.
Prototypes can have horizontal or vertical dimensions. Horizontal prototype displays the user interface for the product and gives a broader view of the entire system, without concentrating on internal functions. A vertical prototype on the other side is a detailed elaboration of a specific function or a sub system in the product.
The purpose of both horizontal and vertical prototype is different. Horizontal prototypes are used to get more information on the user interface level and the business requirements. It can even be presented in the sales demos to get business in the market. Vertical prototypes are technical in nature and are used to get details of the exact functioning of the sub systems. For example, database requirements, interaction and data processing loads in a given sub system.
Software Prototyping Types
There are different types of software prototypes used in the industry. Following are the
major software prototyping types used widely:
• Throwaway/Rapid Prototyping
Throwaway prototyping is also called as rapid or close ended prototyping. This
type of prototyping uses very little efforts with minimum requirement analysis to build a prototype. Once the actual requirements are understood, the prototype is discarded and the actual system is developed with a much clear understanding of user requirements.
• Evolutionary Prototyping
Evolutionary prototyping also called as breadboard prototyping is based on
building actual functional prototypes with minimal functionality in the beginning.
The prototype developed forms the heart of the future prototypes on top of
which the entire system is built. Using evolutionary prototyping only well
understood requirements are included in the prototype and the requirements are added as and when they are understood.
• Incremental Prototyping
Incremental prototyping refers to building multiple functional prototypes of the
various sub systems and then integrating all the available prototypes to form a complete system.
• Extreme Prototyping
Extreme prototyping is used in the web development domain. It consists of three
sequential phases. First, a basic prototype with all the existing pages is
presented in the html format. Then the data processing is simulated using a
prototype services layer. Finally the services are implemented and integrated to
the final prototype. This process is called Extreme Prototyping used to draw
attention to the second phase of the process, where a fully functional UI is developed with very little regard to the actual services.
Software Prototyping Application
Software Prototyping is most useful in development of systems having high level of user
interactions such as online systems. Systems which need users to fill out forms or go through various screens before data is processed can use prototyping very effectively to give the exact look and feel even before the actual software is developed.
Software that involves too much of data processing and most of the functionality is internal with very little user interface does not usually benefit from prototyping. Prototype development could be an extra overhead in such projects and may need lot of extra efforts.
Software Prototyping Pros and Cons
Software prototyping is used in typical cases and the decision should be taken very
carefully so that the efforts spent in building the prototype add considerable value to the final software developed. The model has its own pros and cons discussed as below.
The Software Prototyping refers to building software application prototypes which display the functionality of the product under development but may not actually hold the exact logic of the original software.
Software prototyping is becoming very popular as a software development model,
as it enables to understand customer requirements at an early stage of development. It helps get valuable feedback from the customer and helps software designers and developers understand about what exactly is expected from the product under development.
What is Software Prototyping?
Prototype is a working model of software with some limited functionality. The prototype does not always hold the exact logic used in the actual software application and is an extra effort to be considered under effort estimation. Prototyping is used to allow the users evaluate developer proposals and try them out before implementation. It also helps understand the requirements which are user specific and may not have been considered by the developer during product design.
Following is the stepwise approach to design a software prototype:
• Basic Requirement Identification
This step involves understanding the very basics product requirements especially
in terms of user interface. The more intricate details of the internal design and external aspects like performance and security can be ignored at this stage.
• Developing the initial Prototype
The initial Prototype is developed in this stage, where the very basic
requirements are showcased and user interfaces are provided. These features
may not exactly work in the same manner internally in the actual software
developed and the workarounds are used to give the same look and feel to the customer in the prototype developed.
• Review of the Prototype
The prototype developed is then presented to the customer and the other
important stakeholders in the project. The feedback is collected in an organized manner and used for further enhancements in the product under development.
• Revise and enhance the Prototype
The feedback and the review comments are discussed during this stage and
some negotiations happen with the customer based on factors like , time and
budget constraints and technical feasibility of actual implementation. The
changes accepted are again incorporated in the new Prototype developed and the cycle repeats until customer expectations are met.
Prototypes can have horizontal or vertical dimensions. Horizontal prototype displays the user interface for the product and gives a broader view of the entire system, without concentrating on internal functions. A vertical prototype on the other side is a detailed elaboration of a specific function or a sub system in the product.
The purpose of both horizontal and vertical prototype is different. Horizontal prototypes are used to get more information on the user interface level and the business requirements. It can even be presented in the sales demos to get business in the market. Vertical prototypes are technical in nature and are used to get details of the exact functioning of the sub systems. For example, database requirements, interaction and data processing loads in a given sub system.
Software Prototyping Types
There are different types of software prototypes used in the industry. Following are the
major software prototyping types used widely:
• Throwaway/Rapid Prototyping
Throwaway prototyping is also called as rapid or close ended prototyping. This
type of prototyping uses very little efforts with minimum requirement analysis to build a prototype. Once the actual requirements are understood, the prototype is discarded and the actual system is developed with a much clear understanding of user requirements.
• Evolutionary Prototyping
Evolutionary prototyping also called as breadboard prototyping is based on
building actual functional prototypes with minimal functionality in the beginning.
The prototype developed forms the heart of the future prototypes on top of
which the entire system is built. Using evolutionary prototyping only well
understood requirements are included in the prototype and the requirements are added as and when they are understood.
• Incremental Prototyping
Incremental prototyping refers to building multiple functional prototypes of the
various sub systems and then integrating all the available prototypes to form a complete system.
• Extreme Prototyping
Extreme prototyping is used in the web development domain. It consists of three
sequential phases. First, a basic prototype with all the existing pages is
presented in the html format. Then the data processing is simulated using a
prototype services layer. Finally the services are implemented and integrated to
the final prototype. This process is called Extreme Prototyping used to draw
attention to the second phase of the process, where a fully functional UI is developed with very little regard to the actual services.
Software Prototyping Application
Software Prototyping is most useful in development of systems having high level of user
interactions such as online systems. Systems which need users to fill out forms or go through various screens before data is processed can use prototyping very effectively to give the exact look and feel even before the actual software is developed.
Software that involves too much of data processing and most of the functionality is internal with very little user interface does not usually benefit from prototyping. Prototype development could be an extra overhead in such projects and may need lot of extra efforts.
Software Prototyping Pros and Cons
Software prototyping is used in typical cases and the decision should be taken very
carefully so that the efforts spent in building the prototype add considerable value to the final software developed. The model has its own pros and cons discussed as below.
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