Minimum Viable ProductSolve the core problem of the target group under minimal conditions.
Summary
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a ready-to-launch product with only the core features needed to satisfy users' needs. It saves development resources like time and money. An example: when a user wants to move, a prototype would be the concept of a wheel, while the MVP is a skateboard. It evolves with user feedback and observation to become more advanced, like a bicycle, then a motorcycle, a car, etc. It fulfills its purpose already in the first stage and improves with every iteration of adjusting and testing.
Step-by-step
- Define your customer group. What are they trying to achieve by using your product and what are their needs? This group will later be used to accumulate feedback on your MVP.
- Grasp the essence of your research to write down the core features of your product. This does not imply focussing on the single main purpose, but rather defining a set of features, that delivers the desired experience for the user while being in its simplest form possible.
- Try not to think about a final product, which needs to get thinned out. Instead, consider your insights and start creating an MVP, which embodies all your defined core features, for your test group to pilot.
- Let your selected customer group try out your product. Observe closely where and why problems occur and implement benchmarks for different actions (e.g. time to complete a task).
- Discuss the results of your usability testing and work out solutions for the errors you recognised. Decide which features get to stay and which need to be taken out of your MVP. Now adapt your product and start the next cycle repeating steps 3-5.
What you need
Minimum Viable Product template
