Is your MVP ready?

What was the critical step that some of the biggest startups, including Facebook, Airbnb, Dropbox, Twitter, Uber, Spotify and Foursquare, took before releasing their sophisticated apps to the world? They introduced a minimum viability product (MVP).

MVP was a seed that grew into multi-billion dollar companies for many of these big names. And while there's no guarantee your startup will follow suit, this important step can lay the foundation for future success.

An MVP is an initial approach to your idea that, while not fully developed, can show you (and your stakeholders and users) whether you have something worthwhile on your hands. But, being an incomplete version of your idea, it's natural to ask the question – how do you know if your MVP is ready to launch?

What is an MVP?

An MVP is a product that has the critical requirements and fewest features needed to be successful. The model is built to meet the needs of early adopters. Companies spend the minimum amount of effort necessary to validate the product and demonstrate that it has potential in a larger market.

Many types of businesses across different industries use MVPs, but they often play a particularly important role in software development, especially in teams using agile methodologies.

Keep in mind that an MVP is not a prototype, which is used exclusively for internal purposes – an MVP, in turn, is intended for real consumers.

Why do you need one?

The main purpose of an MVP is to collect feedback from real users that you can use to inform and improve your product. Essentially, you'll be able to find out if your idea is grounded and gather information on how to make it even better to meet the needs of a wider audience. At the same time, you are spending as little effort and funding as possible to make a real product.

It is also an ideal solution if you want to get your product to market quickly. That way, you can get it into users' hands and work on improvements once it's available.

Is your MVP ready? 6 questions to ask yourself

1. Does this meet my business goals?

The first step of product development typically outlines your goals for the project and determines how they align with your business goals. When considering whether your MVP is ready for deployment, you should go back to these initial objectives and think about whether or not it successfully addresses them.

Ultimately, you want your MVP to fulfill its purpose for existing. While you can launch it to collect feedback and refine your idea, you still need it to successfully address the overarching business goals that the product itself must meet.

2. Does it meet my minimum requirements?

With the word “minimal” clearly in the name of this product, it should be obvious that it is a simple version of your idea. This means it must meet all of your absolutely critical requirements – those that are in the very definition of the product itself – and contain none of the bells and whistles that are “nice to have”.

Once you've proven that your idea has merit and can succeed in a real market, you can work on incorporating features that aren't critical but can make your product even better. In fact, an MVP will be helpful in determining which features will truly allow your product to thrive.

3. Does this solve a problem?

Hand in hand with the minimum requirements is the problem your product solves. When you had the idea, you defined the objective – the problem you planned to solve by creating it. Even if your MVP is an early-stage version of the product, it should still address this core objective and ultimately solve the hitherto unsolved problem your consumers face.

4. Have I tested it internally?

Just because this is not a fully developed product, it is still a product for public consumption. As it is NOT a prototype – for internal use – the MVP must be thoroughly evaluated by your internal team. It must go through all appropriate channels, including quality assurance (QA) testing to eliminate bugs and defects and ensure it works correctly.

If possible, you should also test your MVP on internal audiences who are not closely involved in software development. For example, perhaps your marketing or finance teams could try it out and offer feedback from a non-technical perspective before putting it in the hands of real users.

5. Have I gained a trustworthy audience?

An audience you can trust is key to getting what you need out of deploying your MVP . It's important to gather real users and consumers who will give you honest and meaningful feedback. It's a good idea to identify people who are genuinely interested in your product and could actually use it through market research vehicles like targeted advertising.

Once you have an audience to provide meaningful feedback, find ways to ask for it. For example, combine the problems you want to solve or the type of feedback you're looking for with open-ended questions to ask about them. Be sure to investigate how and why they would use the product, as well as any improvements they might suggest.

6. Do I have a roadmap for improvements?

Before you deploy your MVP and figure out exactly what you need to do to refine and improve your product, create a plan for how you will actually implement those changes. You should, for example, have a clear methodology for determining which suggested features you will incorporate, having a system for establishing a hierarchy. You should also determine which channels the improved product will go through before the next launch.

In other words, you don't want to have useful feedback available without knowing how to act on it. Creating a roadmap before you launch will allow you to make significant adjustments quickly.

An MVP is a critical step to take before releasing your product to a wider audience, a step that will allow you to help your product be the best it can be. If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, then it’s clear: it’s time to get this out to your audience.