Updated on 21/02/2023
This article will be going into detail regarding what is the minimum viable product and a few examples of this kind. Is an MVP a fancy way of saying prototype? Or is it a proof of concept?
An MVP is a development technique in which there is a product discovery or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters. The final, complete set of features is only designed and developed after considering feedback from the product's initial users.
A core principle of the MVP concept is that you provide an individual product (which may be as simple as a landing page or a service that seems to be automated but is completely manual behind the scenes) that you can sell to consumers and observe their actual actions with it. Observing what consumers really do with a product is much more reliable than telling people what they think of it.
An MVP is a concept from Lean Startup that stresses the impact of learning in new product development.
One potential thing to be noticed is when an MVP is used correctly, a team will drastically alter a product that they sell to their customers or leave the product altogether depending on consumer reviews. MVP allows teams to do as little work as possible to get meaningful feedback (Eric Ries refers to this as validated learning), which lets them stop focusing on a product that no one wants.
An MVP's development team would not waste time on anything above the bare minimum, instead assessing the customers' needs and expectations when they use the product and building every single feature over time. These are some of the common characteristics that MVP products will incorporate:
In general, the MVP approach works well for technological goods that are used by technical consumers who are eager to have realistic suggestions for how to develop or upgrade the product.
When customer input diverges greatly from the initial project, the product can alter significantly or even be abandoned. This is important to understand because the development teams, on the other hand, would not spend any capital (efforts, time, money, or advertising) on a product that no one wants, needs, or likes.
The image above illustrates the misconception that an MVP is only a product with limited functionality. As you can see, the pyramid on the right shows that, although a Minimum Viable Product has limited functionality, it must be “completed” by also addressing reliability, usability and customer satisfaction.
The video below explains the entire concept of minimum viable product diagrammatically.
The fundamental difference between a product and a minimum viable product is that you cannot sell an MVP at scale. Therefore, things that are not Minimum Viable Products would be the following:
You can use wireframes, mock-ups or interactive prototypes to test an MVP, to test other parts of the commercial model or additional features, but these tests will not allow you to validate the traction, so we cannot consider them valid MVPs.
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a development strategy that involves creating and releasing a product with the minimum set of features necessary to satisfy early customers and gain feedback for future product development. The benefits of this approach include:
An MVP allows you to get your product to market quickly, which means you can start generating revenue and collecting feedback from customers earlier. This can help you stay ahead of the competition and improve your product faster.
By focusing on creating only the core features of your product, you can reduce the time and resources needed for development. This approach also minimizes the risk of investing too much in a product that may not succeed.
An MVP allows you to gather feedback from early adopters, which can help you identify key features and areas for improvement. This feedback can be used to refine the product and create a better user experience.
By launching an MVP, you can test the demand for your product before investing significant resources in full-scale development. This can help you validate whether there is a market for your product and whether it solves a real problem for customers.
An MVP provides the flexibility to change direction if needed based on feedback from customers. This allows you to adjust your product strategy and pivot quickly to respond to changing market conditions.
All concepts and theories aside, putting this concept into the real-life application is the real test. How are these principles being practised in the real world? Let’s dig into some examples of minimum viable products that evolved into valuable product-driven businesses. Here are some examples summarised from CleverTap.
Kevin Systrom developed and raised funding for his mobile app Burbn. The idea was to enable people to check in and share their experiences at various locations with friends.
The app was not an instant success and in fact, many people found it confusing to use. The Burbn team decided to pivot and focus on a single feature: photo-sharing. We all know how this story turns out — Instagram was born. This storey demonstrates how simple it is to add sophistication to your product before it is really needed, as well as how real-world use can shatter all preconceived notions about your value proposition.
The founders of Airbnb were short on rent money and had an idea to make accommodations for an oversold conference with all hotels booked in their city. Their idea was to host guests in their apartment on air beds.
This truly bare-bones minimum viable product was enough to signal that their solution aligned with a common problem. Airbnb’s short-term rental MVP worked well enough for customers to pay for it and provide valuable insights into future features.
Teams use the term MVP, but don’t fully understand its intended use or meaning. Often this lack of understanding manifests in believing that an MVP is the smallest amount of functionality they can deliver, without the additional criteria of being sufficient to learn about the business viability of the product.
The main advantage of an MVP is that it allows you to learn about your consumers' interest in your product without having to thoroughly build it. The earlier you can determine if your product can appeal to consumers, the less time and money you'll waste on a product that won't sell.
Infographics are courtesy of CleverTap
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