First Prototype:

With the research finished, and your first design ready, it’s time to get your hands dirty.  For the first prototype, the goal is to get a proof of concept working.  You need the first prototype to prove that your research was correct, and your idea is possible!  The design doesn’t have to be the prettiest; it doesn’t matter if the parts are expensive (within reason of course), the most important thing is showing that you’re on the right track.  Once confirmed that you could make your product, the cleanup begins. This is where you start to decide what parts you want to use.  If you’re making an IoT sensor, you will check things like what processor is best, what battery you want to use, what sensors you’re including.

Alpha Prototype:

Your Alpha Prototype is the first testable model of the final product to see if it matches the engineering specifications. You will still go through multiple alpha prototypes, don’t think that you need one!  The design may change, your requirements may vary, there is still lots of flexibility in the product at this stage.  The alpha prototype is built to match the engineering specifications of your design.  Based on the test results of using different parts, you can add or subtract features to make the product match the specs.  Once the alpha prototype is functional and matches the specifications of the envisioned product, it’s time for the beta prototype.

Beta Prototype:

The beta prototype starts to solidify the design.  You’ve done a few alpha prototypes; you know what works and what doesn’t, so you begin to make some final decisions.  Beta prototypes are much closer to the final version; they have all the desired functions in place. You know what parts you’re going to use, you see the size range of the product, and you know how you want it to look.  Maybe it’s still a bit big, perhaps you’ve got a 3D printed case instead of injection molded one, but the concept is solid.  Beta prototypes are ready to test in a real-world environment.  In most cases, you can start to show this off so that potential customers can run tests as well and you can get some real-world feedback. You use the beta prototype to run your first benchmarks, analyze performance, and test against the competing products.

With real-world feedback from your tests and customers, it’s time to finalize the design.