Creating a Successful Minimum Viable Product for your Startup
When researching on how to validate your startup idea, the term Minimum Viable Product (MVP) might have popped up.
What is an MVP?
“The version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort”
— Eric Ries, Pioneer of the Lean Startup methodology
It is a stripped down version; the quickest yet functional version of your envisioned product to be used as a way to test the initial response from early adopters, and gain feedback for it while you continue to refine and develop your idea. It is an integral part of the Lean Startup methodology, which advocates the development of startups in iterative steps to mitigate some risks involved.
MVP vs. prototype
An MVP should not be confused with a prototype. Both an MVP and a prototype can be used in product validation, but the two are very different.
A prototype is part of the initial conceptualisation of your final product; which helps you to visualise designs and explore concepts behind your product. An MVP however, is meant for you to kickstart the learning-feedback loop as quickly as possible with the minimum set of features required to engage the early adopters. An MVP comes further down along the way, after many iterations of prototypes, when you are certain of the concept behind your product.
A prototype is the foundation for what will become the MVP.
Why build an MVP?
The top reason why startups fail, according to a 2018 market survey conducted by CB Insights, is attributed to the lack of market need. Ensuring that you are tackling the needs of the market is crucial; a step achievable with the construction and testing of an MVP.
Testing an MVP in the market with early adopters can help founders to gain useful feedback, figure out what features to build, or eliminate features that are not necessary. Startups can then better understand the direction to take when they uncover problems through MVP testing, before coming up with an effective product.
Getting Started
The components of an MVP
There are two key ideas behind what a successful MVP should have.
- Sufficient features for consumers to be interested in and subsequently pay for your product (while keeping costs low!).
- A form of feedback mechanism within it to allow users to report their feedback.
Make a list of all the features that you want to incorporate into your product before you start building the MVP, along with the stages of implementation as the backdrop.
Prioritise these features: high priority, medium priority, and low priority. Ask yourself questions such as “What do the users want first and foremost? Will these features benefit them?” This process will allow you to define their scope for the first version of the product before you start to build the technical aspect of the MVP.
One example of a successful MVP is Airbnb’s, where co-founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were looking to remove the middleman and provide short-term accommodation options to consumers. While testing the idea, they created a simple webpage and took a few pictures of their loft; soon enough they had 3 paying guests, which gave them the confidence to continue developing their idea.
Testing your MVP
After building your MVP, it is important to put it out to the market for your early adopters to use, and gather feedback and test whether it is solving a problem for your customers like it should.
You can conduct interviews with customers after they have used your MVP, so as to get valuable first hand information on your product and if there are any improvements to be made.
The Build-Measure-Learn cycle
The Build-Measure-Learn cycle will come in handy here. It is a feedback loop, one of the key components of the Lean Startup methodology, and helps users to realise what they need to learn, and then figure out what needs to be measured through the use of innovation accounting. This will eventually reveal whether the startup has gained validated learning or not.
Firstly, with your idea in hand, come up with a business model canvas, (BUILD). Start talking to customers and uncover what features your potential users might be looking for in an app (MEASURE). Use it to form your first MVP, put it out to the market and obtain the feedback of customers (LEARN) Using the feedback obtained, repeat the process.
If the implementation of your MVP is successful initially, you should continue developing and refining the product . If it is not, don’t be disheartened! You can look into modifying certain features of the MVP and improve them, or pivot your idea! You will eventually end up with a solid product to be scaled from there.
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