Disadvantages of Building a Prototype

Prototype is the early stage of product development. In case of software development process, prototyping is considered one of the key processes because it leads better functioning of the product in accordance with the requirements of the customers or of the companies for which the products are being developed.  However, there are some disadvantages associated with building a prototype some of which may include user confusion, scope expansion, delayed product development, misleading nature, lack of demonstration of operations of the final system, need of excessive top management support, and misunderstandings between developers and users (Bidgoli, 2017; Gookin, n.d.). Prototyping can expand the scope of the requirements because when the customers are involved in product development using prototyping approach, they may come up with additional requirements that can increase the development cost for the developers but also the time needed for product development. 

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Similarly, too much customer involvement can affect the product development rhythm. This disadvantage can be overcome by signing a proper agreement in which the customers should be liable for making additional payments and extending the deadline for the product development in case of extra features addition as the result of prototyping. Moreover, accuracy is also a concern in prototyping. As Cornell (2017) states, “despite advances in technology, many prototyping systems can’t exactly create the design” (para. 5). These disadvantages can be overcome by building advanced frameworks for prototyping so that the accuracy concerns can be reduced as much as possible. Another disadvantage is that prototyping increases the cost for the developers since it is done at the developers’ end. This advantage can be overcome by using minimal resources for prototyping, as well as by using rapid application development tools (Sparrow, 2017).