What makes a good POC?

Question

I just got promoted to senior a few months ago, and I got assigned to a new team that's working on a project on revamping existing web app that is 2 years old. The web app is slow and flaky, and this team's focus is to not repeat the old mistakes so the new revamp would be better. I am tasked with making a POC (proof of concept) of a tool that supposedly manages the long-running jobs, and I've completed many demo of various use cases, with multiple programming languages, and I've also shared my findings with my teammates.

So far people are happy, but because this is my first POC, I'm wondering what makes a good POC? I feel like I'm not doing enough because I'm only going deep with 1 tool, but I'm not at the same depth with other "competing" tools. Also I feel like something is missing because I haven't done any stress testing and haven't measured the difference of performance metrics between the "old ways" and the "new ways". I feel like so far I only demonstrated that "it works" for our use cases. Also, how long do you think POC should take? Thank you for your answers beforehand

Alex Chiou · Accepted Answer

A good proof of concept is defined by the name: It can either prove or disprove a concept with a relatively high degree of certainty.

Based on what you mentioned, it seems like you did a good job to me! Showing multiple approaches is good alongside demo-ing what you have (which is effectively the end result of a POC).

Also I feel like something is missing because I haven't done any stress testing and haven't measured the difference of performance metrics between the "old ways" and the "new ways".

Is this required? Even though it's a POC doesn't mean you can't iterate on it. My advice is to move fast to deliver a POC showcasing the core improvements ASAP. If your teammates have feedback on additional information/demos they want, you can always quickly go back to the drawing board. Return for another demo after that and repeat as many times as necessary.

Also, how long do you think POC should take?

Depends on the complexity of the project, but 1 week max IMHO, ideally even shorter.

genAI is great for POCs as they are often throwaway code. Your goal is just to demonstrate that an overall direction is feasible after all. The POC shouldn't be built on top of to deliver the final product.

What makes a good POC?

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