Elevating Product Development with Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

By focusing on essential features and iterating swiftly based on real customer feedback, MVPs ensure products align with user needs. Learn how embracing an MVP approach streamlines product launches, mitigates risks, and fosters agile growth, redefining how successful businesses innovate and evolve.

Initially, Facebook was limited to Harvard University. Mark Zuckerberg launched the social media platform in 2004, allowing Harvard students to connect with each other online. It later expanded to other universities and eventually became a global social media giant, with a current market share of USD 34 billion (Statista). The lesson to learn here is a product to be successful globally, or even big, it first must go through the phase of being useful for a small group, even though it may not have every feature at once. Once this group is satisfied or has feedback with this early product version, it becomes easier to build upon and make it global. In product management terminology, this is called minimal viable product.   

What is Minimal Viable Product?

MVP, or Minimal Viable Product, is a basic product version with a significant feature good enough for early adopters to use. Based on their feedback, further iterations are made. This helps reach the product-market fit that defines this version meets the needs of the users. 

Creating an MVP helps in saving time and effort of the product team. It prevents unnecessary spending on building elaborate features that might not be well-received by users. And this is often described as a process of learning and implementing what customers are looking for in a product during the product development process. 

If you weren’t aware, MVP is a lean startup methodology popularised by Eric Reis in his book, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses (2011). 

Let’s look into Reis’ definition 

“The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”

So what does he mean by ‘validated learning about customers’?

Validated learning about customers means learning from real customers to make sure a business idea actually works for them. It involves understanding what customers want, how they behave, and using this information to improve the product or service, rather than just chasing high sales numbers or profits. 

Understanding Minimal Viable Product through an Example

Example: XYZ Mobile App

XYZ, a startup, wanted to create a mobile app for travel planning. They started with an MVP approach to test their idea. The core feature of the app was to provide users with information about nearby attractions, restaurants, and hotels, along with a basic trip planner.

Their MVP included

• Basic Features: Users could search for nearby places of interest and view brief descriptions.
• Simple Trip Planner: Users could create a basic itinerary and save it.

XYZ launched the MVP in a limited geographic area with a small group of users to gather feedback. They used simple designs and focused only on essential functionalities to keep development costs low.

Feedback from early users highlighted several areas for improvement

• Users wanted more detailed information about attractions and places to eat.
• They requested the ability to customise and share trip itineraries with friends.
• Some users experienced bugs while using the app.

Based on this feedback, XYZ's development team made iterative improvements

• Enhanced Information: Added detailed descriptions, user reviews, and ratings for attractions and restaurants.
• Sharing Functionality: Enabled users to customise, share, and collaborate on trip plans with friends.
• Bug Fixes: Addressed technical issues reported by users to improve app stability.

After several iterations, incorporating user feedback and refining the app, XYZ released a more comprehensive version. The app now had advanced features, better usability, and addressed the initial shortcomings based on user input. 

Importance of MVP

Here, we want to highlight some of the core benefits of going for MVP. 

Benefit	Description	Examples
Validating Ideas	Testing and validating a product idea or concept with minimal resources.	Testing a new app idea with a basic prototype among a small group of users.
Cost-Efficiency	Focusing on essential features to reduce development costs and resources.	Building a basic version of software with limited functionalities to save on development expenses.
Time to Market	Speeding up the product launch by getting a basic version into the market quickly.	Releasing an initial version of a service to gather feedback before adding advanced features.
User-Centric Development	Collecting user feedback to tailor the product to meet user needs and preferences.	Modifying a mobile app based on early user reviews to improve its usability.
Risk Mitigation	Minimising the risk of investing heavily in a product without user validation.	Creating a prototype to test the market before committing significant resources to full-scale production.
Iterative Improvement	Gradually enhancing the product based on user feedback and iterative development.	Updating a website’s features based on user suggestions to enhance user experience.

What Makes an MVP Good?

To know the good, the bad must be known as well. 

Successful MVP	Unsuccessful MVP
Solves a specific problem with essential features	Includes too many unnecessary or complex features
Developed and launched fast for early feedback	Takes too long to develop and misses early feedback
Addresses user needs for a good experience	Neglects user needs, resulting in a poor user experience
Gathers user feedback for improvements	Fails to gather or utilise user feedback for improvements
Keeps evolving based on user input	Doesn't adapt or evolve based on user insights
Avoids unnecessary expenses	Spends excessively on unnecessary functionalities
Sets clear success metrics	Lacks defined goals or metrics for success
Can grow with additional features based on feedback	Is inflexible and doesn't scale or incorporate user-driven changes

 

How to Set up a Minimal Viable Product (that Works)

Identify the Objective

Define the main goal of your MVP. Determine what problem your product solves and who your target audience is. You can create user personas that give you details on age, gender, and other related information. Further, create market surveys to understand the customer pain points. Also, hone in on competition analysis to discover how your competition and audience have been interacting. 

Identify Key Features 

List down the core features that are essential for your product to function. Focus only on the most crucial functionalities that address the primary problem your product aims to solve.

Design and Development 

Create a basic design and develop a functional prototype with the identified core features. Keep the design simple and functional, avoiding unnecessary complexities.

Testing and Feedback 

Release the MVP to a small group of users or a limited audience. Gather feedback on usability, functionality, and overall user experience. Use this feedback to iterate and improve the product.

Iterative Improvements 

Incorporate the feedback received from users into the product. Make necessary adjustments, enhancements, and fixes to improve the MVP iteratively.

Launch and Measure 

Once you've made improvements based on user feedback, launch the refined version of the MVP to a larger audience. Measure key metrics like user engagement, feedback, and usage data.

Analyse and Refine

Analyse the data collected from user interactions and usage patterns. Use this data to refine the product further, focusing on areas that need improvement or additional features that users find valuable.

Repeat the Cycle 

Continue iterating and improving the product based on user feedback and data analysis. Gradually add more features and functionalities based on user needs and market demands.

So Far on MVP…

• MVP isn't just about a basic product. It's a learning process. Each iteration is a chance to learn from users, refine the product, and align it more closely with customer needs.
• Embracing a lean startup methodology, like MVP, enables businesses to grow efficiently.
• MVPs ensure products evolve based on real user insights. By prioritising user feedback, businesses can align their offerings with what customers truly want, ensuring sustained relevance and loyalty.
• MVPs mitigate risk by validating ideas before significant investment. By testing ideas with a smaller audience, companies reduce the risk of failure in the broader market.
• Setting up an MVP involves a strategic process. By identifying objectives, iterating based on feedback, and analysing data, businesses ensure the product's alignment with user needs and market demands.
• MVPs offer the agility needed to enter the market swiftly. By focusing on essential features and iterating quickly, businesses can adapt to changing market dynamics efficiently.