3.1.11.1 Prototyping

Question 1

what is prototyping ?

Answer 1

an early model of a product built to show how the final product will work

Question 2

what is the purpose of prototyping

Answer 2

prototyping offers clients the opportunity to evaluate and view the proposed designs

Question 3

advantages of prototyping {6}

note: develop your points, potential 6 marker

Answer 3

• Better quality system delivered - misunderstandings are identified and sorted out early
• Identify problems early on - working system is available early on in the process. user can identify improvements which can be made before the system is completed.
• End user involvement - The end user feels more involved in the development of the system and will ‘buy’ into it.
• Fulfil user requirements - improved design quality and will be far closer to what the user needs.
• Cost savings - less expensive to rectify problems in the early stages
• Training - The prototype can eventually be used to help train staff while the real system is still being fully developed

Question 4

disadvantages of prototyping {5}

note: develop your points, potential 6 marker

Answer 4

• Excessive development time - there is a risk that they will be forever wanting to tweak the system, thus leading to delays in development
• User confusion - Sometimes features appear in a prototype which are then removed from the final system, so the users can become confused or disappointed
• Increased development time - The end user might start to ask for features to be included which were never in the original user requirements specification, leading to increased development time and costs.
• Too much focus on one part of the system - other parts of the system might end up being neglected
• Expense of prototyping - While the prototype is being worked on, the real system is on hold. Building a prototype costs money because of development time and hardware.