Prototyping Model

The prototyping model is one of the important software development models. Software prototyping is the activity of creating prototypes of software applications, i.e., incomplete versions of the software program being developed. It is an activity that can occur in software development and is comparable to prototyping as known from other fields, such as mechanical engineering or manufacturing. The different phases of the prototyping model as are:

• Requirements gathering and analysis
• Quick design
• Build a Prototype
• Initial user evaluation
• Refining prototype
• Implement Product and Maintain

Requirements gathering and analysis

• A prototyping model starts with requirement analysis. In this phase, the requirements of the system are defined in detail. During the process, the users of the system are interviewed to know what is their expectations from the system.

Quick design

• The second phase is a preliminary design or a quick design. In this stage, a simple design of the system is created. However, it is not a complete design. It gives a brief idea of the system to the user. The quick design helps in developing the prototype.

Build a Prototype

• In this phase, an actual prototype is designed based on the information gathered from a quick design. It is a small working model of the required system.

Initial user evaluation

• In this stage, the proposed system is presented to the client for an initial evaluation. It helps to find out the strength and weaknesses of the working model. Comment and suggestions are collected from the customer and provided to the developer.

Refining prototype

• If the user is not happy with the current prototype, you need to refine the prototype according to the user’s feedback and suggestions. This phase will not over until all the requirements specified by the user are met. Once the user is satisfied with the developed prototype, a final system is developed based on the approved final prototype.

Implement Product and Maintain

• Once the final system is developed based on the final prototype, it is thoroughly tested and deployed to production. The system undergoes routine maintenance for minimizing downtime and prevent large-scale failures.

You may also like The Agile Model.