Redefining MVP

Shank
Shank
Sep 9, 2018 · 4 min read

I’m a huge dreamer. I’m the poster child for delusions of grandeur. I can envision very large scale projects with lots of exciting features. My problem is not knowing how to eat the elephant.

I have an idea that I have wanted to do for well over 10 years. I’ve made at least a dozen starts and I have nothing to show for it. I’ve repeatedly gotten stuck with not knowing how to break it down. Not know what the MVP would be.

Knowing this is a huge weakness, I’ve been very proactive in trying to learn how to extract the simplest part out of an idea. I think I’ve gotten better, but I think I still have a ways to go.

With XADDAX, I’ve been very diligent about figuring out what is the least I can do, instead of falling into the trap of chasing after my wish list. But it’s not easy. I keep finding myself wanting to spend time on things that would be nice, and would make for a better app, but not absolutely necessary within my parameters of building something useful in the least amount of time.

I think, considering my propensity, I’m doing a pretty good job keeping it minimalistic. I’ve learned to accept that I have to be extra aware and really question each of my decisions. A couple of weeks ago, I had to push myself even further.


I ended up getting a chance to pitch my app at Full Stack_PDX. I felt I needed a demo of the product. I considered a couple of options, I could do slides, I could mock something up or I could demo the work I have in place.

Discussing XADDAX at FullStack

I felt slides would only be marginally better than just talking about it. Considering a key part of the functionality deals with interacting with GitHub, a mock-up didn’t make sense to me. I wondered if there was a way to use the code in place to better convey the direction the app is heading.

Around the same time, I’m refining my elevator pitch and trying to be succinct in defining the guiding principles of the business. When I thought about the app on the simplest level, XADDAX saves you time and writes code for you.

I don’t know if in a demo I can adequately demonstrate the time savings, especially with how little the app does at this stage, but I realized, I could definitely show how it writes code.


At this point, I had a very ugly client-side interface that would allow me to create a new GraphQL mutation. I decided to build the interface so you created a new mutation by entering the name of the mutation and that data would be sent to the server and the next screen would allow you to start adding arguments to the mutation. At the point of making the decision to demo the product, I had the initial mutation creation, the data being received by the server, but not quite finished with the persistence of the data. I had also worked on the generic generation code but not the specific mutation class generation.

I decided that my MVP for the demo was to create a mutation and put in a pull request. It was the absolute least I could do to show what the system does. My next question was the feasibility of the MVP, considering my window of time. At this point, my biggest unknown was dealing with GitHub, so I started researching. When I read through how to create an app, it seemed like I could get that working in time, so I got to work.

The good news is, I was able to get a working demo working, in time, but just barely. I ended up being a little hacky with the code generation to get the demo working, but I was able to show what I’m trying to accomplish. I received a lot of questions and feedback. I consider the night a success.


I feel good enough about my success that I believe I might be on to something. These microMVPs force me to focus on what is truly important and to think about what is really necessary for the feature to be useful. Moving forward, each time I have a feature to build, or a deadline to meet, my question will be, “what is the least I can do?”

XADDAX

A startup building tools to assist with GraphQL

Shank

Written by

Shank

Web developer for https://XADDAX.com and some other cool software.

XADDAX

XADDAX

A startup building tools to assist with GraphQL

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