A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product development strategy that involves creating a product or service with only enough functionality to satisfy early users' needs. Developing an MVP can help you define customer pain points and determine which are the right product features that would meet their demands in the long-run period.

An MVP's key objective is to create a viable product that gives users instant value while limiting expenses and utilizing data to gradually enhance customer value. MVP validates market assumptions, rethinks the product strategy and approach, and determines where to spend resources to develop the product. Therefore, MVPs are remarkably effective and one of the major techniques in the process of defining a product-market fit.

In this article, we are going to explain why it is extremely important to get your MVP right, what choosing a bad MVP can change in the product development process and what are the other essential things you need to consider about this issue. So if you are interested in getting your MVP right you will find this article beneficial.

Why it is Important to Know What Your MVP is?

We all know that building a model before a product is done is a very important aspect in every type of field or industry. For example, when architects are building a city they design a model in the first place. This is because it helps them with the error detection and reduction of system flaws. Besides, that way they are investigating options early in the system's lifespan. This is precisely the reason why the MVP is important in the process of product development.

If you really want to develop a great product, you are definitely recommended to start with a minimum viable product (MVP). It not only helps in saving time and resources, but it also allows you to provide the best answer to your potential consumers. While we define MVP in business it should be noted that V (Viability) is probably the most vital aspect of this concept. It means creating a product that provides enough value for clients that they are prepared to invest money in it.

In order for your product to become viable, you are recommended to determine which functionalities are certainly necessary. You should only choose the characteristics that the product must have before your provided service is used effectively. You should identify the features that add the greatest value to your users and allow them to get the most out of your business. These functionalities can significantly improve the sales of your company, and therefore they are extremely important to consider in the process of determining your MVP.

MVP is the method to create unique functionalities for your product in the fastest way possible before launching the product. ​​The essential thing about this product development method is that it implies that early buyers will be able to see the idea or vision of the ultimate product and offer the important input required to push programmers ahead. The entire goal is to learn throughout the product development by gathering information from authenticated consumers. The MVP for startups may assist the product team in receiving customer input as soon as possible in order to iterate and develop the product gradually. The MVP for startups is very essential in agile development in general since the latter is centered on verifying and iterating products according to user feedback.

Why Bad MVP Can Interfere with Your Business Goals?

Establishing an inappropriate MVP for your product can be harmful in a lot of ways. First of all, the noticeable thing is that bad MVPs can cause your business to fail entirely since you will not be able to define and implement the correct approaches in your product development. Imagine you want to test your product but your testing method is so inadequate that you can not understand whether the product will work or not in the real life.

On top of that, bad MVP means the waste of time as well as money spent in the process of the MVP construction. Due to various inaccurate MVP testing results, you may wind up building the functionalities that provide little value and rejecting a great idea instead. Besides, you can not only waste resources, but you can also waste something far more valuable - the concept of your product itself.
One of the most common reasons why a lot of people fail in the process of defining an MVP is that they implement too many functionalities into their product. If you create too many functions, you will end up spending more time developing them.

Consequently, increased hours immediately equates to increased costs. The result is that you might spend all your money before achieving your product objectives, or you might provide your great MVP far too late and the rivals may have already overtaken the market at the given time. This case might cause your business goals to collapse entirely.

On top of that, another essential thing to mention is that sometimes people forget to take user feedback seriously while building their MVP. As we have already noted earlier, customer input is one of the most significant parts of product development. You should try to consider every criticism, complaint, and advice about your product. Analyze the information you get, categorize it, and focus on the groups supporting your company goal. Alternatively, you risk implementing too many functionalities, and we all already understand the dangers it entails. So if you want to avoid the unpleasant circumstances, you are recommended to consider those things and end up defining the great MVPs instead.

Things to Consider While Defining Your MVP

Before bringing a new product to life, competition research is one of the most essential aspects, especially in the process of developing your Minimum Viable Product. A competitor’s analysis should definitely be performed in order to assess the number of similar or associated products available in the market at the given moment. Researching on rivals is vital regardless of how much trust you have now in your product or how original your business concept is.

Sometimes entrepreneurs take this step for granted when constructing an MVP, believing in the originality of their concepts. It's no surprise that it leads to a lot of mistakes, sometimes painful ones. Therefore, the key thing to consider is that each company sector is expanding on a daily basis, so keeping a watchful eye on your active and passive opponents is always a smart idea, no matter what.

While talking about how to define MVP in agile another thing to note is the aspect of innovation in your product. If you believe your product has something unique, that other competitors do not have, then somehow it becomes much harder to know whether this distinctive feature will satisfy your potential customer’s needs. In this case, you are recommended to evaluate how integral this functionality is to your product and whether it plays an important role in defining your product’s superiority over other competitors. Believing in the fact that the innovative feature of your product would solve important problems in the near future might mean that it would also be essential to be included in your MVP.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you define MVP?

A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product development technique that entails developing a product with only enough features to meet the demands of early consumers. Creating an MVP is thought to be an iterative framework that determines client pain points and identifies which product features will suit their needs.

Why is MVP important?

Developing a great MVP is important because it not only saves time and resources but also allows you to deliver the greatest possible response to your potential customers. The significant aspect is that early customers would be able to view the concept or vision of the final product and provide the critical input necessary to drive programmers forward. The MVP can also help the product team get client feedback as soon as possible so that it can iterate and improve the product progressively.

What are the benefits of creating a minimum viable product?

There are several reasons why MVP can be very beneficial. The MVP method assists in gaining clarity and focusing on the essential features of your product. It enables you to test your company concept at a minimal cost and in a short period. Furthermore, early user feedback is far more important than the most significant estimates of business analytics. The earlier a customer can put the product throughout its courses, the more efficient the development is going to be.

 

Written by Keti Getiashvili

Based on an interview with Ilia Chigogidze, Nini Khvedeliani