What is a “prototype”?
A prototype is an early, often deliberately incomplete version of a product built to test a specific hypothesis: about usability, technical feasibility, user value or commercial demand. Prototypes are not MVPs (which deliver functional value to real users) and not finished products; they exist to learn fastest at the lowest cost.
Prototype fidelity ladder
- Sketch / paper: hand drawings or simple slides. Tests concept and flow with users.
- Wireframe: low-fidelity digital layout. Tests information architecture.
- Clickable mock: Figma/Adobe XD interactive prototype. Tests user flow and reactions to UI.
- Working demo: partial backend, hard-coded data. Tests feasibility and feel.
- Pilot / MVP: production-grade for limited audience. Tests retention and willingness to pay.
What prototypes test (and what they don’t)
Prototypes can validate: comprehension, desirability, navigation, feasibility, basic usability. They cannot validate: retention, real demand, scalability, regulatory acceptance, support cost. Founders frequently overestimate what a prototype proves: strong demo reactions do not equal strong product-market fit.
Prototypes and IP timing
The prototype stage sets intellectual-property clocks that cannot be rewound. Public demonstration of an invention before a patent filing can destroy novelty: the grace-period rules differ by jurisdiction and are narrower than founders assume, so the patent conversation belongs before the trade-fair booth, not after. Prototypes built by freelancers, agencies or university labs raise ownership questions that surface at diligence: code and designs vest where the contract says they vest, and absent assignment language they often remain with the maker. NDAs around prototype testing, clean-room documentation of what was built when, and assignment clauses in every development contract are cheap at prototype stage and expensive to reconstruct later.
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