When you have an idea for a new project, it’s essential to be aware of the effort and resources you’ll have to put in. And even if you already have the perfect strategy, it’s possible that your product won’t be the roaring success you were hoping for.
This is where an MVP comes into play. A minimum viable product makes it possible for you to test your idea before it’s fully developed and helps you optimize your solution.
- What is an MVP?
- Why use an MVP?
- How do you create an MVP?
- What is an MVP?
If we were to give a simplified definition, an MVP is a version of a product with the minimum number of features to still attract users. The main goal of this process is to validate your idea right in the early stages of its development.
This happens due to the fact that you can get valuable feedback from your early users and optimize your product while still in the development process. A minimum viable product is a great way to gain some popularity in your market while investing less time and resources.
- Why use an MVP?
Developing a minimum viable product is a good method of learning (before it’s too late) if your idea will have the success you want. The main benefit an MVP brings to the table is giving you validated learnings about both your product and your clients. The sooner you learn if your target audience is satisfied with your product or not, the less effort you will spend on something that won’t be as profitable as you’d expect.
So what are the concrete advantages of developing a minimum viable product?
- Minimize and optimize your budget
Even though MVP development can’t be considered cheap, it definitely costs less than developing the full product. Additionally, it’s easier to add features to something that is already functional than to create an application from scratch. You don’t have to build everything at once.
Even more, the purpose of a minimum viable product is to save you as much time as possible. The more development time you need, the higher the costs, so this is why an MVP can also optimize your budget.
- Attract early customers and investors
Having a well-developed MVP to support your product idea, along with some hard data, can prove to your future investors that you know what you’re doing and that your product will be a success.
Also, it’s great to be able to interact with your early users during the initial phases of product development. They can become brand ambassadors and provide you with invaluable feedback for your process.
- Reduces risks in product development
The MVP concept can protect you from spending resources unnecessarily or wasting time on features that your target audience might not use. In addition, if you develop your product incrementally, you can make sure that you use your time and money wisely.
There are plenty of popular applications that started out as MVPs, from Facebook to Spotify and Uber. This only proves the point that large-scale applications take a lot of time to be fully developed, requiring immense effort and resources to be invested.
- How do you create an MVP?
The process of developing an MVP can be considered a product prototyping model. However, there is another procedure that you can go to in order to make everything more efficient. We’re talking about Design Sprint, whose purpose is to help you validate your idea before creating your MVP.
The design sprint process can help you create a clickable prototype, test it, and then measure your outcomes. This is done by validating your idea with your potential users, minimizing your risks, and maximizing your return on investment. The end result can be used to increase the investment you need for the next phase, the minimum viable product.
There are plenty of MVP frameworks that can be used to develop your minimum viable product. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the six steps process:
- Outline your product idea
As with anything, before starting the actual process, you need to define your idea and its purpose clearly. Think about what problem you want to solve and what is the best way to do that.
- Research your target market and leading competitors
If you want your product to sell, you need to be sure that your target audience will actually buy it. You can use surveys, social media, or focus groups to find out what your potential users want to see in your application and what they would be interested in. The more feedback you gather, the better your chances of success.
- Visualize the design process and user flow
Simply put, you need to consider how your users will use your app and how you can make it easier for them to interact with it. Being aware of the user flow will make you carefully consider every detail, ensuring customer satisfaction.
- Prioritize your features
It’s easy to get carried away when deciding what features you want your app to have. However, you need to scrutinize your feature list carefully and decide which ones are necessary for your MVP. Try to focus on your core functionalities that can still attract early users without going over the board.
- Develop your minimum viable product
Once you’ve decided what features are mandatory for your product, you can start building your prototype and start gathering feedback. However, even if it’s low on functionalities, your MVP shouldn’t be of low quality. It should still satisfy the requirements of your clients and provide some value.
- Gather validated learnings and optimize your product
Once you’ve launched your MVP and people have started using it, you need to gather as much information as possible. Learn about the needs of your users, collect feedback, and analyze the reactions of your customers. This will allow you to improve your product, especially since it’s not yet fully developed.
Especially with the ever-changing dynamics of today’s market, it’s crucial to find ways to minimize costs and risks in software product development. An MVP can help you gain as much information about your target audience as possible and validate your idea before building the full application.
About Digitalya
Digitalya is a top software development company based in Iasi. With more than 52 worldwide web and mobile applications, their goal is to help people achieve their dream of being successful tech entrepreneurs. For more information, visit https://digitalya.co/.
