PROTOTYPING - SOME NEW RESULTS

This research describes a survey of experienced software development p ractitioners in large organizations for their perceptions of the relat ive merits of the prototyping and waterfall approaches. Some results o f earlier research are confirmed but a number of new insights are obta ined. Prototyping is used by developers who are mainly concerned with early life cycle issues; improved communication with users, increased flexibility of the design produced and for early discovery of problems . Non-prototypers prefer to use a waterfall approach because they are more concerned with later life cycle issues-level of control provided, good communication with IS personnel, and the robustness and maintain ability of the systems produced.