“Will it sell or not?” Only if we knew the answer to this age-old question. Thinking about building an MVP to test your product? Hold on, let us wet our feet a little in the term’s background first.

Alberto Savoia, former Engineering Director at Google, coined the concept of a ‘pretotype.’ As detailed on his website, this is designed to expedite learning by constructing a low-cost and speedy version of your product. This experiment checks if “if we build it, they will use it” applies to your notion. A pretotype allows you to receive valuable information faster than traditional prototyping methods – allowing for faster iterations and insights into what works best for users.

But before we dive deep, do you understand the difference between building an MVP, pretotype, and prototype? Let’s explore this concept a bit further using the example of a restaurant that offers delivery services.

What is a Pretotype?

A pretotype is basically a lightweight prototype used to gauge interest in the product. For instance, let’s say you are starting a restaurant with a delivery service; your pretotype could be as simple as tracking visitor numbers on your website to see if people would even consider ordering from you. This enables you to validate consumer demand and better prepare for launch day quickly!

building an MVP

What is a Prototype?

A prototype is a simplified version of the product with more detail than a pretotype. After discovering that customers would be interested in purchasing your product, you should create a prototype to check if it fulfills their expectations and has potential for engineering implementation. This way, you can make sure that what you are building will work as intended when completed.

Returning to the restaurant: An initial attempt in this direction could be introducing a menu on your basic website and analyzing which dishes are looked at more often. Additionally, you may consider developing certain recipes and providing people with free cooked food if they would give feedback.

building an MVP pretotype

MVP

MVP is a simplified version of a product that has more substance than either the pretotype or prototype and offers enough worth for people actually to pay you for it. Note, though, that MVP does not need to be the finished variant of your product – just functional and ready to use.

For instance: if you run a delivery restaurant business, building an MVP could involve delivering meals to paying customers; however, using third-party resources may help cut back on time and costs associated with cooking and shipping.

Understand the Value of Pretotyping: The Benefits and Why It Matters in Building an MVP

In his book, “Pretotype It,” Alberto Savoia introduces the pretotype that IBM developed for a text-to-speech machine in an age where typing was sluggish and speech recognition non-existent. Thanks to their efforts, we now see the likes of Alexa and Siri, which take dictation from our mouths into words on a screen!

But, instead of directly sending their concept to an engineering team, IBM chose to check if the companies interested in their product would actually purchase it as they had promised. They informed those customers that a prototype that was prepared for use had been developed by them. 

They put in a mock-up computer terminal, and the whole conversion of speech to text was done by an experienced typist who was in the next room. The aim was to find out whether this device would be used and how – without having to commit years to develop it or spending a fortune. 

The machine operated flawlessly, producing perfect text on the screen with no errors. However, other issues were uncovered upon actual use; people experienced soreness in their throats after prolonged use, and the sound of the machine was so loud that it was difficult to concentrate or keep conversations private. As a result, many who had initially expressed interest in purchasing it changed their minds after trying it out. It became obvious that an additional, soundproof room would be necessary to provide users with a comfortable and discreet working environment.

After conducting the experiment, IBM did not commit substantial resources to its development. However, they continued to investigate the possibilities of speech recognition on a reduced scale. It would be many years before users could dependably use speech recognition on computers and mobile devices.

Building an MVP, Pretotype & Prototype – Final Thoughts

By creating a pretotype, it is possible to obtain valuable insights regarding customers and the product itself before dedicating significant resources. Instead of expending large amounts of time and effort on a prototype or even building an MVP, it is wiser, to begin with something rudimentary but tangible. This allows for a greater understanding of what the customer needs, as well as how the product should look, feel, and operate. Rather than giving in to perfectionist tendencies, decisions should be based on data-driven insights and real-world observations.

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