Question

A drawback of prototyping is

Answer 1

The Disadvantages of Prototyping

Alas, no project development model is perfect expect for, perhaps, oxygen plus hydrogen equals water. The disadvantages of prototyping must be weighed before deciding to implement them into project development.

Insufficient analysis:

A focus on a limited prototype can distract developers from properly analyzing the complete project. The potential end result: A potential overlooking of better solutions, incomplete specifications or the conversion of limited prototypes into poorly engineered and developed final projects that are hard to maintain.

User confusion:

The worst-case scenario of any prototype is customers mistaking it for the finished project. Customers seeing a rough prototype may not understand it merely needs to be finished or polished. Also, customers can wrongly perceive the prototype to accurately model the performance of the final system. Customers may also grow fond of prototype features that are not part of the final system.

Developer misunderstanding of user objectives:

For every project to be successful, developers and customers must be on the same page and share the same project objectives. If customers require all proposed features of a prototype be included in the final product, this can lead to team and mission conflicts.

Excessive Development Time:

Remember, prototypes are by nature designed to be developed quickly. If a developer spends too much time developing a complex prototype, the project can run into roadblocks (especially if there are disagreements over prototype details) and run over both time and cost budgets.