What is a key characteristic of throw-away prototypes?

The key characteristic of throw-away prototypes is that they are discarded after development and are not suitable for production. This approach is used primarily to understand user requirements and to explore ideas, rather than to create a final product that will be developed into a software application.

Throw-away prototypes allow developers to experiment with concepts and gather feedback from users without the expectation that the prototype will be transformed into final code. They help in clarifying requirements and validating design decisions early in the development process. Once the insights have been gathered, the prototype is typically abandoned, and a more robust system is built from scratch based on the learnings obtained.

The other options either suggest that throw-away prototypes should be documented for future use, evolve into production-quality systems, or serve as a stable foundation, which contradicts their fundamental purpose. Throw-away prototypes are inherently temporary and are not designed with production quality in mind, focusing instead on exploration and user engagement.