MVP — AppService’s guide to product development

If you are planning to launch a new product, you’ll need an MVP.

A minimum viable product is a tool to determine the product’s potential on the market. MVP model can be used to develop any product, including mobile apps and websites.

Even though MVP has only a basic set of features, when applied properly, it helps to scale your business right. One of AppService business focus is creating MVP together with our clients to transform their idea into business and get the users’ feedback. Here’s our guide to MVP creation milestones.

Identify and evaluate the challenge

The idea of product creation generally evolves from a hobby or professional activity.

As the sphere is well-known, it’s easier to identify the pain or solution opportunity. It is extremely important to test the idea for market demand beforehand. Interviewing potential customers is the easiest way to get relevant feedback. Meantime note the following:

• divide the audience into the product users and customers, who pay for it. These roles are not always the same because motivations are different (e.g. employees will actively use the corporate software but the CEO will decide to purchase it)
• evaluate users’ interest
• test a user-friendly business model

Make a list of MVP features and get it down to a minimum

The most in-depth and high-quality feedback will determine the product’s functionality and its main advantages. At this stage, it is crucial to:

• define a basic set of functions
• pick the audience of users out
• represent goals and objectives for CustDev analysis
• prepare CustDev questionnaire (forms for analytics, a system for automatic analysis)

As a result, the consumers will evaluate the idea, and thus it will be easier to decide main development directions.

Start development and testing

After CustDev is conducted and the decision about the development is made, there’s a stage of SOW creation and basic product architecture prototyping.

Working with the development team on the first stage means having functional requirements stated and a basic prototype created by the beginning of the second stage. The team creates Technical Specification following the results of CustDev, thus you see an accurate and complete image of the product together with the assessed time and cost of the development. After that the working team is formed.

MVP development itself includes interface design, frontend, and backend development. When a customer is integrated with the development team on every stage, their communication is more efficient because the client:

• follows the development steps and can make changes in the project in the real time mode
• controls the result
• helps to solve project issues on-the-spot

It saves resources significantly and affects further cooperation positively. That’s why the use of Scrum is preferable.
Scrum framework allows identifying all the weaknesses in early steps. That’s why it’s better to plan sprints together with the customer to estimate the implementation period and to track the overall result of each sprint. The number of sprints should be agreed with the client, and a certain amount of resources is allocated. Thus it is possible to predict and control the budget and timeline.

Launch an MVP and get a feedback

After the development is completed, the product will be launched. Landing page, promotional pages in stores, banners, presentations — everything should be ready to attract the first early adopters.

Some projects promote their betas before an official release. It helps to see the real feedback and transform the features of the product beforehand.

The support and development processes are carried out throughout the life cycle of the product.

AppService has developed MVPs for websites and applications. We offer full consultations for minimum viable product development. We will not only help in the implementation of the idea at each stage but also form a cohesive team that will launch the product on time and support it throughout the life cycle. As a result, in 15–56 weeks of collaboration the product will be launched, and the idea will become a business. Are you interested in developing your MVP with us? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.