May I Introduce to you, the Minimum Testable Unit…

westbrook
westbrook
Aug 25, 2017 · 3 min read

The MTU, if you’re already too busy to say the entire thing out loud.

You may even have met one before, they can be easily confused with other equally tactical sounding words and phrases. Some teams really like making prototypes, paper or otherwise. Others find seemingly infinite value in creating proofs of concept, which even have their own acronym too, POC. And, another great acronym that gets heavy play is MVP (no, not that one), the minimum viable product. The last one even shares a word, as well as what some might say is a lot of conceptual originators. However, I’d like to present for your consideration the reality that while much can be said about a mode of work that includes prototypes or proofs of concept or minimum viable products, the central goal of such work while intended to be inline with that of the minimum testable unit, is often vastly different, almost to the point of being diametrically opposed to it.

Merriam-Webster really gets right to the point when it lists the definition of prototype as “an original model on which something is patterned”. While it is easy enough to confuse original with origin, a prototype is not the source of an idea, it is the model of that idea. Even when writ small, or simple, or in broad stokes, creating a prototype implies very much the same as a proof of concept that there already is a concept that already deserves to be a pattern for future work, if only the rest of the world could see it in front of them. Both of these approaches can be great ways to work. Seeing is believing and when a great idea is already in the air, giving it shape via a prototype or proof of concept can do wonders in shortening the road towards brining it to life.

Getting out way beyond that, a minimum viable product doesn’t even assume you need to prove the idea you have birthed to the world around you. It jumps right to assuming that the market not only wants/needs your idea, but that it would accept a partial version of your idea without balking. So much so that often viable is attached to the idea of sellable instead of the idea of testable and the jump to charging your customers for it is oft made far too quickly. This can of course be great when the idea does prove to be successful, however far too often these ideas become the bloat that enough users rely on such that you can’t remove it, but is no longer central to the product so that you wish you could.

In contrast to all of this, the best thing about a minimum testable unit is that it is not done. It’s a test, and if it fails, that’s fine. More often than people give them credit for, the failing tests are the ones that actually teach us something. Focusing on the minimal with these things in mind these tests failing or not is on little short term effect, whatever work went into learning its failings doesn’t tilt the ledger in a negative direction and you can get to the next unit of learning as fast as possible. This in turn can effect the long term in more positive ways when you don’t find your project stuck in an irrelevant feedback loop or building/maintaining features that are of no benefit to your users.

However, the most beneficial aspect of a MTU is when you can use one, and that’s any time. While the scale and quality of works like proto or proof or minimum viable have distinct implications best suited for early in a project plan, a testable unit does not suffer from such limitations. Whenever you come upon a decision in your work, a minimum testable unit can empower you to make a better more educated decision. That means you can get as much out of a MTU on day one when you have no idea what your building as launch day when you make a fractional release to only your newest cohorts, or when phase three or four comes around and your looking to have A/B testing guide your hand. At all those points, and more, the minimum testable unit stands ready to be applied in your workflow today!

)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade