How we validated our MVP assumptions
An important stepping stone to building your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is to validate your idea and market viability. Adopting a lean startup methodology, we accomplished this step by building a prototype with the support of our development partner — Simpleweb.
With an ‘off-the-shelf’ backend system, no payment details and obvious glitches, we took to the streets of Bath to test some assumptions. We were able to overcome these obvious technology drawbacks and implemented the prototype in two coffee shops for the day. By giving away free coffee, we were able to process 36 orders, giving us some encouraging feedback on the following key assumptions:
1. Customer will pick up the coffee when notified
2. Customer won’t forget about coffee if more than 15 minutes ahead
3. Outlet will make coffee before it says due now — measure delay if not
4. Outlet will be able to handle two sales streams without any problem
5. Customer is impressed by the service
6. Customer would like to have loyalty points registered in the process
The verbal feedback we gained from this activity validated the features we were planning to build as part of the MVP. This initial test cannot be skipped and is essential to ensure that we were on the right path.
Read Simpleweb’s take on the market test here. But, in their own words:
“The prototype allowed us to test the process of ordering a coffee from an app, outside of the coffee shop. It allowed us to validate our approach to the development by seeing if the two apps could communicate effectively in a real-life situation. The prototype wouldn’t work as a finished product, it’s just not viable, but it did validate our assumptions around the best approach for development, setting us up perfectly to create the MVP.”
Ordable are excited to see the outcome of the technology development and get the MVP in customer’s hands. To finish off the test we asked some questions on a 7-point likert scale (0=strongly disagree/7=strongly agree). All respondents were very positive and gave us some useful information to focus on.
The results from this market test have indicated certain areas and features to focus on. On the whole, we were on the right track all along — now it’s time to build the MVP and launch it to a wider audience.
