Creating an MVP? Follow our definitive guide on how to build a minimum viable product. Validate ideas quickly, engage early adopters, and pivot with insights.
Unfortunately, not all ideas, even good ones, are successful among customers. A company may have a great product in mind that solves a known problem, but for a variety of reasons—including timing, price, or presentation—customers simply aren't on board. If a company spends time, money and effort building the product and it fails, they have done all that work for nothing.
That's why it's smart to start with a version of the product that gives customers an idea of what it's all about, without investing too much in it upfront. This initial version of the product is known as the minimum viable product (MVP). In addition to reducing costs, an MVP can help companies establish customer followings, collect customer feedback, and test the product. It can also serve to attract investors.
What is a minimum viable product?
A minimum viable product, or MVP, is an early version of a new product that works well enough to be used by customers, but may not yet have all the features that will allow it to compete more aggressively in the market. The purpose of an MVP is to allow customers to use its core features and provide feedback on how it could be improved.
An MVP differs from a prototype in that it is actually released for customer use, whereas a prototype is built for internal demonstration and discussion purposes only.
In software development, before committing to delivering a complete product, companies create an MVP that customers can use well enough to test the concept and offer suggestions on what would give them a better user experience (UX).
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's dive into the different steps you should take to build an MVP.
#1 Define a problem
Whether it's shoes, cars or software, the key to creating a successful product is the same: solving a problem or satisfying a customer desire. Zappos is a famous example of a company that started with an MVP. The problem defined was the hassle of buying shoes. The answer turned out to be the ability to buy them online. With software applications, the problem is typically a task that users want to do or want to do more easily.
For example, a social media app solves the problem of not being able to communicate with multiple people simultaneously by allowing users to share information with friends quickly and simply. A recipe app solves the problem of having to search through multiple cookbooks or websites to find something to cook by providing a built-in search engine.
In work environments, a project management app solves the problem of inefficiency by helping managers and team members understand workflow and meet deadlines. An ERP system solves the problem of resource management challenges by enabling companies to manage resources in an integrated manner.
The first question to ask when starting the MVP development process is: what will your software allow customers to do that they can't do now, or how will it allow them to do better?
#2 Study the Market and Competition
If your software replicates many aspects of existing applications, you must determine how your software represents an improvement over existing options. The way to do this is to closely study the competition and learn how customers may still be struggling with what they are currently using. Conducting a survey or organizing a focus group are good ways to gather information from potential users of the proposed product.
When these sources report a feature they need, determine whether it should be included in the MVP. Remember, the “M” in MVP stands for minimum. Don't try to integrate everything at this early stage: just keep in mind that you can add more functionality in later iterations.
#3 Design the product
Use your knowledge of the problem/solution, your target market, the competition, and standard design principles to create a frictionless user experience. Again, the design doesn't need to be fully featured yet. However, it should still be a good concept that allows users to easily understand the interface and perform each task quickly. Imagine the software from the users' perspective to determine the visual and functional components.
#4 Build the product
While an MVP doesn't need to have an extensive collection of features, the ones you choose must perform well and reflect real customer desires. Based on the design phase, come up with a list of possible features and prioritize them according to the customer's needs. Then design the software with these elements.
To ensure high quality, you must also test the software according to the normal process. During this phase, you can also think about marketing and the strategies you will use to prepare potential customers for the launch.
#5: Study Users
Now the product is ready for real users who will undoubtedly come up with use cases and scenarios that you and your team haven't considered. Ideal beta testers are as similar to your target audience as possible. They must also be willing to be brutally honest with you about what works well and what doesn't work so well with your software product.
You can collect feedback in a variety of ways, including surveys, focus groups, or just watching them use the software, noting where they get stuck when trying to accomplish specific tasks.
#6 Refine and Launch
After launching and testing the product and receiving feedback from beta users, it's time to ask some tough questions:
- Is the product good enough to pursue?
- If not, could it happen that way with some reasonable adjustments?
- If so, what additional features do you need to add to make you more competitive?
This step begins a reiterative process of selling, receiving feedback, integrating new features, retesting and selling again. The key here is to continually monitor product performance to determine what steps to take. At some point, you may decide that the product is no longer viable, and that's okay. The experience will help you bring your next big idea to fruition.
Source: BairesDev
