Proof of Concept in Testing: What Should You Know About It?

Proof of Concept in Testing (PoC) is the recognition of an idea or method in order to depict its practicality or to explain a theory with the aim of depicting its practical approaches.

What is Proof of Concept in Testing?

A Proof of Concept in Testing is nothing but an explanation or demonstration of a prototype or plan which evaluates or depicts the practical usage or approaches of theory in the outer world.

PoC in Testing has different implementations in different fields in software development testing. PoC in Testing describes different pathways and their roles with different participants.

In software development, a PoC will help show if an idea is technologically feasible from every possible standpoint. The overall work of any PoC plan is to find answers from a practical point of view for all technologically driven problems. In short, creating a successful PoC plan especially in software development can make or break the deal for the same.

Proof of Concept in Testing is often understood as a short software testing audit when the clients wants to explore every possibility and make sure the QA procedure will help before signing a contract with the QA companies.

What makes the PoC in Software Testing unique are:

• This procedure saves a lot of money by not wasting it on a product that is not viable from a technological point of view in today’s market.

• It gives tangible evidence that the product idea to be launched, is full-proof and no stakeholders can debate against it.

Proof of concept is a broad theory or rather a practical approach to ascertain whether an idea can be implemented or not.   What are the pros and cons of the idea, where it lacks, and what improvements it requires to pass as a working idea?

Proof of concept is the very first step towards making the prototype, which moreover is just the first step in launching the idea.

Proof of concept has application and not limited to any particular field. For example, Business Development, Product launching, Decision making, Engineering, Medical drug development, software development, and the list goes on.

You might ask why proof of concept is essential, what makes it so important? Well, do you like making mistakes? Especially those mistakes which can cost you money or your image? No right.

Proof of concept is a simple process done with great focus. When there is an idea floating around, it is vital to make sure that the idea can work rather than just assuming everything. It helps in so many ways which we will discuss under its advantages later on in this article

What are the components of a good Proof of Concept in Testing?

• Internal assessment of the fact of whether the company has got the means to afford the project.

• A PoC plan for the team working internally or externally which will depict all the negative outcomes of the software, how they will tackle those outcomes and how enhancements should be thereby incorporated in the working of the software as well.

• A presentation on the software’s capability to satisfy the clients, the features of the software, and how it is going to be better than its competitors.

• A document on the techniques to tackling the issue with the software and your team's responsibility for solving the issues arising while utilizing it.

• A write up stating the time period required to complete the whole software development process and also stating the finances that are going behind it as well.

Many companies do not pay attention to the creation of a solid Proof of concept in software testing. This is quite an integral step in convincing your targeted audience to invest their time and money into the software you are trying to sell in the market.

Proof of Concept in Testing is one of the most convenient ways of enhancing the marketing campaign of software. The technological field is already going through so much modification, everyday something new is launched by the top companies.

So to stand strong in the field and make software achieve the name and fame it deserves the company definitely needs to pay attention to making a solid Proof of Concept in Testing.

When PoC in Testing is done?

A Proof of concept must be done if it is possible to be performed. It is true that not every project requires a PoC strategy, some projects actually require a real demonstration or a trial rather than implementing theories and presentations explaining its working features and practicality.

But the majority of the companies are skeptical about doing it because of financial issues or they agree to do that for a certain cost.

Hence a Proof of Concept in Testing is not actually a mandatory step in all cases, representing Proof of concept also needs a practical reason for itself.

To create a successful PoC, the company requires having a strong foundation over a few things such as:

• First of all, the company should have proper experience in what they are launching, they should be familiar with the working facilities and features of the software they are offering to their audiences. If not so, then the only option that is thus left is to educate yourself first or take help from the companies who have been specializing in the working such stuff and then only indulge in creating a PoC in software testing.

• Secondly, the company should possess enough resources and backup to stand by what they are putting in their PoC in a testing plan. For example, if you are offering two engineers to the people who are getting their hands on your software to install it in your targeted client's system then you should have enough number of team members so that you can give up two engineers for every person who is getting your product in return of something which you will demand like proper infrastructure and tools.

• Time.

• Space in your office.

• Upgraded tools to work.

• Enough manpower, talent, and finances obviously.

• If not all these, hiring a software quality assurance company who will do the PoC for you is a must.

How does the whole process of PoC work?

Proof of Concept in Testing requires the following two sorts of software testing:

1. Manual testing where the software is manually operated and tested and the tester here requires to have the mentality and judgemental skills of a consumer only.
2. Automation testing is another way where tools are being used to test the software. Automation tools are widely utilized here.

Even though manual testing is quite an important and detailed way of understanding any software's capability to stand strong in the market the majority of the companies are more inclined towards performing the automation testing only.

This process since requires less amount of effort and manpower also the budget, companies are always keen towards performing it.

Different stages of Proof of Concept:

1. Demonstrate: describe the specialties of your software. Know your stakeholders and your clients and accordingly emphasize your presentation by pinpointing the features which will be useful for them. present your software as a compact and successful item to them.
2. Expand: keep a report of the use cases of your software. Keep expanding that and present it to your stakeholders and targeted clients. Include the success criteria as well as the specialties.
3. Create: put your ideas into test; create a prototype of what you have been thinking. Make the following changes that are needed to make your software more useful and better than the competitors.
4. Implementation: after knowing the outcomes start incorporating your features in the software. Implementation of all the positive aspects and making changes accordingly will make your software one of a kind.
5. Compare and examine: this is the most integral step where you let your team workers and client give their opinion on your software. Examine the expectations and the reality of the performance of the software.

Working procedure of PoC plan consists of the following steps:

Step 1. Make an effort to listen to your consumers and their needs.

There is no point in creating software that has no practical use in the real world; also there is equally no use if another company already is offering the same thing as you are. To nullify all of these issues from arising a company should conduct a small survey. They do not require listening to thousands of people but the taking point of views from some number of people can give them a fair idea if the software they are planning to launch will even find use in their targeted client's life.

Step 2. Gather feedback and create a list of the pain points.

Making a survey and talking to your targeted clients can give you a proper idea of what the requirements should be taken care of in your software so that it gains the maximum amount of recognition from the consumers and stakeholders as well.

Step 3. Create a prototype of the solutions and implement them.

Discuss the issues arising with your plan of software development, list down all the issues your clients are facing with your software and start implementing them onto your system. Create a team of specialists and engage them to take care of these and stop them from arising.

Step 4. Make a low cost of viable software.

This is where you create a fully functioning software and ask your stakeholders and clients to take it for a trial period and see how it is working whether it is meeting their requirements and fulfilling them correctly. This is a good way of knowing the condition of the software when it will go out into the market and see it if it is going to bring recognition to the company as well.

Step 5. Design the final product.

After knowing all the pros and cons of your software as well as the outcomes it is going to face after its launch you can finally start designing the software incorporating all the features it requires to stand out in the crowd and bring the recognition in the company by depicting the hard work put behind it.

What are the advantages of this PoC procedure?

• Light on the pockets.

The whole process of software development is anyway quite complicated. After it is created if any defect is detected then nullifying it will be extremely tough. Often while you plan to take off a bug from the system accidentally a different bug enters. It is easier to correct the issues arising with your software before it is completely made. Hence PoC actually helps a company to get done with these issues entirely even before the software is launched.

• Client satisfaction.

Proof of concept enables you to go through your targeted audience's preferences over your software and give you the possibility of improving the aspects of the software before finally launching it. This will make the software stand out in the field, gain a higher amount of recognition, and satisfy the company's targeted audience as well.

• Security.

Software testing which is a part of PoC enables you to intensify the security of your software. Hackers invade the software's system and use the user's personal information from the software for their own benefit. PoC enables the company to double-check and makes the security system stronger to cancel out all of these issues.

• Software quality enhancement.

PoC pushes the company to enhance its system to a huge extent before launching the final product. The extensive system of cross-checking everything in the software will never lead to the formation of something shallow and low quality hence PoC is an amazing way to enhance the condition and features of the software.

Conclusion

Evaluating all the pros and cons of Proof of Concept in testing, we can conclude that it can totally make or break the deal in software testing.

The technological world is experiencing a massive change every day, a new company is coming up with something better than the previous version. Hence when it comes to a software launch emphasizing on PoC is a necessity.

Our commitment

In the business world, POC in Testing is how companies prove that their product is going to be financially and technologically viable in the long run.

In this journey, we are here to help you. We at Apphawks are willing to run a thorough Proof of Concept on your product or idea at no extra cost.

We are here to offer you proper full-proof feedback which will help you can make the prompt bulls-eye decisions for your product.

Our commitment to you is to keep everything transparent, bias-free, and easily understandable. We will be your extended in-house team, i.e. your collaborator with the vision to help each other out.