The Evolution of the MVP
Tim West, Product Manager
The “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) is a term coined and popularized by Eric Reis, author of The Lean Startup, defined by him as “that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” When first introduced, the MVP became a powerful and effective vehicle for testing, validating hypotheses, and iterating or pivoting to achieve product/market fit (P/MF). For background, P/MF is the concept developed and named by CEO and Co-Founder of Wealthfront, Andy Rachleff, used to describe what is achieved when the team identifies and aligns on “the features you need to build, the audience that’s likely to care, and the business model required to entice a customer to buy your product.” Both of these concepts were originally defined in the context of starting up a new business. That was 9+ years ago, and since the scope of starting-up has vastly changed, so has the meaning of an MVP.
What the MVP is Today in Startups
Today in 2018, the term “product” doesn’t really make sense when referring to launching a new company. When you think about it, we don’t typically look at anything digital (apps, websites) as “products.” Instead, we tend to think of the brand and the experience holistically. The major flaw in thinking “product” or even “MVP” is that you would roll out an app (one touchpoint) in an isolated fashion. It really should be about a minimum viable collection of basic touchpoints in the experience. With this being said, it’s more effective to conceptualize the MVP not as launching a new feature, but rather as iterating on a touchpoint based on a need (think: minimum viable ecosystem). Siloed thinking and launching an MVP of an app or website does not legitimately help, and any success it has will most likely cause heartburn simply from the domino effect caused by not considering the pre or post touchpoints.
If you are building Microsoft Word, a product, the MVP can be derived from qualitative and quantitative means fairly easily. It’s self-contained. This is the vacuum/self-contained context that most of these derivative MVP definitions are born from. It is much more difficult from a progressive, multi-touchpoint experience.
What the MVP is Today in Established Organizations
Launching a new company is one thing. Once the MVP makes its way into the mainstream, the concept takes on new meaning. The spirit of the “MVP” in the context of established companies becomes more about prioritization within an organization with politics and lots of stakeholders. The MVP in this position is an exercise and a tool to cut through the red tape. It abuses Reis’s original definition, but most MVPs here are really hybrids of validated learnings and streamlined asks from the politically powerful within the organization. Even if it’s just to evaluate the viability of an idea, it usually remains a negotiated mix of inputs.
The idea of a single isolated “MVP” is outdated. The desire to arrive at a point of “this is it” is not practical, either. Facebook, for example, has thousands of variations of experiences live at once when it rolls out a new UI or feature. Multivariate experiences are the norm, or if you are simply customizing to different personas or audiences one finite MVP is not a prudent goal unless it’s a baseline you are building upon.
MVPs Are Not For Launch
Organizations, startups or established businesses, do not launch MVPs. Again, the MVP is simply a methodology for iterating on a singular touchpoint based on a need. Rather, what is launched is an entirely different product: an extension of the MVP containing new features that have been added as a result of the insights gained through testing, that has also taken into account its interaction with all other existing and future touchpoints.
Roman Pichler, author of Agile Product Management with Scrum, pointedly differentiates this state of the product calling it the “Minimum Marketable Product” (MMP). “Note that a minimal marketable product differs from a viable one: It is complete enough to be ready for general release… Some of your MVPs are likely to be throwaway prototypes that only serve to acquire the necessary knowledge; others are reusable product increments that morph into a marketable product.” Pichler goes on to point out how there are other pieces to the puzzle that need to be addressed before launch.
The Modern Day MVP
MVP’s are still incredibly valuable but they are simply not what they used to be. No longer does a business, regardless of maturity, launch Reis’s original definition of the MVP. The modern-day MVP is more of a culture play. It is a methodology for iterating on a single touchpoint within the greater touchpoint ecosystem.
