I need confidence my product will work before I commit to the full development project
Fen interacts with various types of customers. Some of them have a limited budget and specific product requirements, while others are interested in speculative product development where the product details may evolve during the development process. However, in both cases, there will be a budget gatekeeper who needs to be convinced of both the product viability and the candidate development partner’s capability.
In practical terms, this drives the need for a low-cost, fast turnaround (sometimes in days or weeks) proof-of-concept which will help build technical and commercial confidence and serve as a starting point for a detailed product requirements specification.
The key to success at this stage is to look for off-the-shelf solutions that can be quickly used to create a functionally representative sample. This sample can also serve as a development platform that can be reused in the subsequent phases.
Where the detailed requirements are less well defined, the proof-of-concept can serve as the minimum viable product that can guide an agile development process, led by the client’s product champion.
Most product developments at Fen involve a proof-of-concept staging post as part of the design process.
