Prototype Evaluation

When constructing POC (proof of concept) prototypes for customer evaluation:
1) The prototype should be as real/accurate as possible with real data, to convey something sufficiently familiar in terms of tasks/content…not greeked text with random, imagined data and layouts. That will only confuse users.
2) The goal of the evaluation is to gather feedback–both positive and negative–for subsequent iteration and decision-making
3) Consider staggering the introduction of new features into the prototypes such that the initial round is for primary concepts and later rounds have variations of the concepts with more detail, interactivity, etc. — ie, don’t overload the prototype with every whizz-bang feature. Be diligent and focused/scoped to yield better feedback.