Rapid Prototyping: Lessons Learned

Rapid prototyping is a development method that may or may not be e ective in improving software products and process. Assessing the e ectiveness of rapid prototyping requires empirical data. We analyze 39 published and unpublished \real world" case studies of the use of rapid prototyping for developing software products. By identifying e ects mentioned in multiple sources, we are able to extract information about software products and processes resulting from the use of prototyping, as well as potential di culties. We nd that, with careful planning and management, software developers can e ectively use rapid prototyping.