MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

If you are looking to define minimum viable product, it’s easy to explain, at least in the most basic form. For instance, Techopedia describes MVP as “a development technique in which a new product 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.”

In other words, it’s a glimpse at a website or product before many of the features are developed and provided.

What is an MVP used for?

A minimum viable product is a way to test popularity and opinion of a product by exposing it to target customers who will give feedback which can be used in further iterations of the product. In many ways, it’s a way to avoid the huge risk that is developing a site or product and blindly hoping people will appreciate it.

With MVP development, potential users get a chance to use some of the features of a product and tell you how they feel about it before you sink money and time into the development of the entire product. You get to learn from feedback and implement that into your final design.

Steps Towards an MVP

With an MVP, you want to balance the two adjectives referring to the product. You want a product that is viable, but you also want a product that is minimum. You’re not going to get 100% of both, or even one, in this type of development and it’s not what you want. You want enough of both to do what needs to be done, and there are a few ways to ensure that.

• Solve a problem – You know your market and have decided to solve problems for them. An MVP isn’t going to solve every problem for every user who may use the product down the line. So pick one of those users and solve their problem. You can always add on to this down the line, but by selecting a single target user, it’s easy to solve one single problem.
• Features you need – You want to ask yourself, for each feature, if it’s something that is necessary to solve the problem or something that is wanted. Then focus on the needs. Yes, there may be plenty of wishes you can add in later, but for now, just do the bare minimum to ensure the problem is solved.
• Test and test some more – User testing can tell you what people need. It will tell you what they love and what they hate. This may be different than what you thought, which is important to know. If many users are disappointed because of a lack of a feature, maybe that’s the one to focus on next.
• Release and improve – Releasing an MVP doesn’t have to be some major worldwide thing. You may need to test, validate, and use the MVP a few times, with various changes, before you’re ready to move on. That’s the time when you go beyond the MVP and on to the minimum marketable product (MMP).