Product Development Prototyping | 5 Kinds of Prototypes

An overview to product development prototyping. The different types of prototypes you can create throughout each step of the product development process.

___Contents of this video___

00:00 – Intro
00:35 – What is prototyping?
01:11 – Proof-of-Concept Prototypes
01:30 – 3D-Printed Prototypes
01:51 – Designs for Demonstration
02:16 - Functional Prototypes
02:30 - Aesthetic Prototypes


00:35 – What is prototyping?
Once you’ve finished researching and planning, it’s time for the prototyping process. The goal of every prototype is to be better than the last, eventually ending up with one good enough to convince buyers.

Prototyping is the process of creating models of a product or an idea to test and refine its features before being finalized and sent to production. There are many kinds of prototypes that each serve a unique purpose, some of which are optimal for certain product types. Here of a few examples to refine your product.

01:11 – Proof-of-Concept Prototype
This is the earliest version of your product with the primary purpose being to confirm the validity and viability of your idea. At this stage, prototypes will not have the appearance of the final product and may not be constructed of the same materials as later versions.

01:30 - 3D Printed Prototype
3D printing saves time, money and effort compared to tooling a production line in order to manufacture a small number of units. This technique produces little or no waste with the ability to execute a change in design simply by reprogramming the system and commissioning another prototype.

01:51 – Designs for Demonstration
If you are preparing to pitch your product to investors, you'll want a prototype design for demonstration. At this point, you will have determined all of the components of your product and combine them into one working prototype. It may not be aesthetically pleasing or perfectly designed but it will demonstrate that the product is real, and it works.

02:16 - Functional Prototypes
Functional prototypes have all of the features working, but the configuration of the product has not been finalized. This provides a clear demonstration of the viability of the product yet allows for changes to increase the usability and desirability of the final version.

02:30 - Aesthetic Prototypes
These are used to determine the most appealing form factor of your product. Here's where you'll decide whether to use hard materials or softer ones and make choices on things like color, finish and feel. Make sure the last few iterations of your prototype are perfect. It can't be rushed since that's what we'd be replicated by the factory.

__About Enventys Partners____
Enventys Partners is a start-to-finish, all-encompassing product development service agency that designs, prototypes, manufactures, fulfills, crowdfunds, and markets new products and startup businesses.

We’ve raised more than $350 million for clients through crowdfunding and has been involved in the development, prototyping, launching, and/or marketing of over 2,500 products. For more than 20 years, clients have utilized the agency’s combined services to take their consumer product from napkin sketch to production.

For more information, visit enventyspartners.com/.

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