Say no to Minimally Viable Product

Sash Barige
Jun 14, 2020
4 min read

Kidding! Get to market quickly, reduce risk and costs, feedback incorporated...

A Minimally Viable Product (MVP) is a development strategy in which a new product is created with the minimum necessary features to satisfy initial users. An MVP is not a fully functional product. The primary goal of an MVP is to quickly release a product to gain user feedback and validate assumptions, without investing heavily in the development of a full-featured product. A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by few early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development. It is a development strategy that helps teams validate their product idea early in the product development cycle. Most would say that you're not building a product but rather testing an idea and build a product from it. The key here is maximum learning in minimum time. Focus on the learning activity rather than building an actual product, that customers would be delighted with. Because, when you embark on the journey of building the actual product, you'll inevitably end up spending the time and cost. A semi-functional or even a non-functional prototype would be ideal for MVP.

Benefits

Reduce risk: An MVP allows teams to test their product idea with real users before investing too much time and resources into developing a full-fledged product. This can help to reduce the risk of developing a product that no one wants.
Accelerate learning: An MVP allows teams to get feedback from users early and often. This feedback can be used to improve the product and ensure that it meets the needs of users.
Save money: Developing an MVP is typically cheaper than developing a full-fledged product. This is because an MVP only includes the essential features that users need.
Get to market faster: An MVP can help teams to get their product to market faster. This is because an MVP can be developed and tested quickly.
Identify flaws in initial assumptions
Enable data-driven decisions on product evolution
Iterative Improvement: MVPs serve as a foundation for future development, providing a base on which additional features can be built incrementally.

When to use it

An MVP should be used when:

For brand new product ideas with many unknowns. The team is developing a new product that has not been tested with users before.
The team is new and has limited experience with the product domain.
The team needs to get the product to market quickly.
Startups: For startups with limited resources, an MVP is often the ideal way to enter the market and attract initial users.
Uncertain Markets: In markets with uncertain demand or competition, an MVP helps test the waters without overcommitting. The team is unsure about what features are most important to users and assess if a product will meet customer needs before fully building it out.
Innovative Ideas: When introducing a new, innovative concept, an MVP helps gauge user interest and fine-tune the concept based on feedback.
Resource Constraints: When resources are limited, MVPs allow companies to maximize what they can achieve with available budgets.
Complex Projects: Even for large, complex projects, developing an MVP allows breaking down the work into manageable phases.

When not to use it

An MVP should not be used when:

Regulated Industries: In highly regulated industries like healthcare or finance, compliance and security requirements may necessitate comprehensive development from the outset.
Mature Markets: In markets where user expectations are well-defined and high, skipping essential features may hinder adoption.
High-Stakes Products: Products that, if they fail, could cause significant harm or loss, such as medical devices, should not cut corners on safety and reliability.
Brand Reputation: Established companies with a strong reputation may want to avoid launching a product that might tarnish their image when releasing an incomplete product.
Short-Term Goals: If a company's primary goal is short-term revenue, they may opt for a more feature-rich approach.
The team has a deep understanding of the product domain and the needs of users.
The team is developing a product that is a simple extension of an existing product.
The team has the resources to develop a full-fledged product.
For core infrastructure or mission-critical systems.
The team does not need to get the product to market quickly.

Companies using it

Many companies use MVPs to develop new products. Some examples include:

Amazon: Amazon started as an online bookstore, but it has since expanded to sell a wide variety of products. Amazon used MVPs to test new product ideas, such as its cloud computing platform and its streaming video service.
Airbnb: Airbnb started as a website where people could rent out their air mattresses to travelers. Airbnb used MVPs to test new features, such as its mobile app and its payment processing system. Over time, they expanded their offering based on user feedback and demand.
Netflix: Netflix started as a DVD-by-mail service, but it has since transitioned to a streaming video service. Netflix used MVPs to test new features, such as its recommendation algorithm and its offline viewing capability.
Dropbox: Dropbox started with a simple MVP—a file-sharing service. Its success allowed them to grow into a comprehensive cloud storage platform. MVP was a 3 min video demonstrating cloud syncing
Zappos: The online shoe retailer Zappos began by taking photos of shoes from local stores and only buying the shoes from the stores if they sold. This MVP approach helped them validate the concept before committing to a large inventory.
Spotify: Spotify launched its music streaming service with a basic MVP, gathering user feedback and continuously adding features to become the platform we know today.
Buffer: Buffer, a social media scheduling tool, started with a minimal version to test the market. Based on user feedback, they expanded their offering over time.
Groupon: Groupon started as a simple WordPress blog where deals were posted manually before evolving into a global e-commerce platform.