Developing a product or service often means starting with a version that doesn’t yet include every planned feature. While an ideal product might be perfect from the start, this is rarely the case.
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a strategic approach to gathering early user feedback, ensuring that the final product includes the functionalities and features that the target audience truly wants.
In this article, we will explore what a minimum viable product is, why it holds significant value for various companies, and how you can implement an MVP in your own development process.
What Is a Minimum Viable Product?
A minimum viable product is a prototype of a product, such as an application, that is made to guarantee that the strategic vision of the product is in line with the demands of the market.
For example, when Dropbox first launched, it started with a simple video demonstrating the basic functionality of file storage and sharing. This allowed the team to gauge user interest and gather feedback before investing heavily in full development.
The final product or service is only devised and developed after considering the initial user feedback. This ensures that no unnecessary time or resources are spent on designing and developing unwanted or unimpactful features.
Implementing the minimum viable product technique is all about testing what works and what doesn’t. Such a method could be compared to A/B testing or split testing, though on a larger scale.
Key Takeaways
A minimum valuable product is a prototype of a product or service created to gain useful information from a specific number of initial customers;
The minimum valuable product methodology can speed up the product development process and reduce expenses by eliminating the need for potential changes in final product iterations;
Proactively learning more about the goals, needs, and desires of your customers may enhance the information gained through the development of a minimum viable product.
How to Define Minimum Viable Product?
The simplest version of the product that a company wishes to introduce to the marketplace is called the minimum viable product or MVP for short. Companies seek to assess the reaction from potential customers by releasing a bare-bones version to the public before redesigning specific elements.
For instance, Airbnb initially launched a simple website allowing users to book rooms in private homes. The founders started by renting out their apartment to test the concept, gathering feedback directly from early users. This feedback was crucial in shaping the platform into the comprehensive service it is today.
Therefore, the goal of MVP is to get user feedback so the desired improvements can be made to the finished product. An organization can introduce modifications to the final product far more effectively when valuable customer feedback is assessed.
Experimenting and effectively making changes following gathered feedback is at the heart of this product development strategy.
Why Is a Minimum Viable Product Important?
MVP brings many benefits to a company opting to experiment before fully committing to product development.
The MVP allows for a quick launch of a new product idea and provides valuable data on customer impressions. Here are some of the key advantages:
1. Reduces expenses
The main advantage of an MVP is the ability to learn about consumer interest before fully developing the product. By determining early whether or not the product will resonate with consumers, companies can save time, money, and effort.
This approach helps avoid the hidden but often significant costs associated with developing features that may not interest the target audience.
2. Gathers valuable feedback
An MVP enables companies to gather early user feedback, which can guide the development of the final product.
This ensures that the product meets customer needs and preferences, reducing the risk of investing in features that may not resonate with the target audience.
3. Accelerates time to market
By focusing on the core functionalities, an MVP allows for a quicker product launch. This helps in gaining a competitive edge by entering the market early and starting to build a user base sooner.
Experimenting and making changes based on gathered feedback is at the heart of this product development strategy, ultimately leading to a more successful final product.
What Are the Best Minimum Viable Product Strategies?
Developing a minimum viable product may seem like a daunting task at first, but it’s actually quite straightforward.
If you are considering launching your own startup, the following steps will help you keep on track in developing an effective MVP strategy.
1. Consider customer needs
One of the best ways to make sure that your MVP will yield valuable data is to be attentive while you converse with your customer base. Find out what it is that they desire. Proactively learn about their aches, pains, and goals because waiting for them to directly tell you may never bear fruit.
2. Test your ideas
See if your initial concept is well received. Find out if a tiny portion of your community would purchase the product you plan to create. This can be achieved through surveys, focus groups, and various other methods of feedback collection. A small investigation will beneficially reflect on your future product development.
3. Iterate and reiterate changes
Experimenting with suggestions for improvements is the final and perhaps the longest phase of MVP development. Fine-tuning your product or service is a good way to ensure that the final product launch is a huge success. Some things will stick and others won’t, but it’s important to keep the overall idea and vision in mind and keep going until you are satisfied with what you have.
4. Build a landing page
Creating a landing page to gauge interest is another effective MVP strategy. A simple page describing the product and offering a sign-up option for early access or updates can help measure demand and collect contact information from potential users.
5. Develop a prototype
Building a basic prototype that demonstrates the core functionalities of your product can attract early adopters and investors. This prototype doesn’t have to be perfect but should be enough to showcase the value of your product and collect feedback for further development.
Additional Tips & Tricks
- A software prototype can benefit greatly from market research. Investigate if similar solutions exist before creating your minimum viable product, and implement a feature of two from those that are already on the market;
- A successful MVP helps you improve upon your previous ideas. Even if you have to redesign certain aspects of your product, it’s worth it if the user has a great experience at the early stage;
- The core feature of your product or service may not change if it is a good solution for the target market, but the expression of a product core functionality can be done in many ways. Get creative and think of ways to enhance the ways for user interaction even at the early stages of your MVP.
The Bottom Line
A minimum viable product is a prototype version of a product or service. Its main purpose is to elicit feedback on potential improvements for the final version of a product. Startups that wish to save on the potential expenses of introducing changes to a final product will surely benefit from this approach.
You’ve learned what a minimal viable product is, why it is important, and the best strategies for MVP implementation. Also, we’ve provided a few tips & tricks for your upcoming MVP development. With all this knowledge you are ready to determine if creating a minimal viable product is the development approach you need to take for your company or organization.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) FAQs
Product management is a position within a product development department that is responsible for carrying out the product lifecycle successfully. Product managers may also be tasked with ensuring that certain product management principles are being adhered to.
A good MVP is primarily defined by its ability to elicit valuable feedback or impress customers with its features right away. Whatever effect your MVP has on potential customers, it will likely yield some sort of input that you can use.
Introducing a new product is always somewhat risky. However, a minimum viable product shields you from this risk. This is because the potential of the future product can be verified by preliminary user reviews.
Marketing teams that have access to a sizable, recent, and unbiased source of information gained from user feedback can perform much more effectively. The information gained with the minimum valuable product can be used by the teams in sales and advertising to create marketing messages that are tailor-made for the target audience.
