The MVP technology is not new. Introduced in 2001 by Frank Robinson and soon popularized by Eric Ries, the concept of a minimum viable product has significantly changed the landscape of software development. Today, few software projects do without an MVP development stage. And yet, it is not as simple as it seems. Some projects which desperately need an MVP do not develop it and later regret it. Some project which could easily do without MVP still invest a lot of resources in developing it. What is the problem here? The problem is that most people do not understand perfectly what is a minimum viable product, what is the purpose of it, how to develop an MVP, and what benefits does it offer. In this article, I plan to answer each of these four questions.

What is MVP?

Minimum viable product is an important software development approach, which lets the team validate the project idea prior to implementing it to the fullest. The very basic definition of an MVP is “a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development”, according to Eric Ries.

Basically, it is a very primitive version of the final product — with fewer features, less elaborate design, possibly some code issues, or even bugs. Yet, it should be of sufficient functionality and quality for this solution to be shown to the test target audience. Later on, if the market testing is successful and the project owner decides to implement the idea, some parts of the MVP code can be reused in a final product.

What is the purpose of an MVP?

MVP is usually developed before the full-fledged development process is unfolded. The purpose of it is to test the market before entering it. It is aimed to show if the target audience needs such a solution, if they are ready to pay for it, and how the solution can be improved to reach the optimal outcome.
Why do I use the word “solution”? The thing is that any software application, should it be web, desktop, or mobile, has to solve some problem. A game solves the problem of people being bored. An online store solves the problem of people not being able to go to a usual shop. An elearning platform offers a solution to one’s need to acquire some experience or knowledge without pursuing formal education.

A minimum viable product is aimed to test innovative solutions. If you want to develop a very basic ecommerce website for your store, you do not need an MVP — the solution is far from being new, and your competitors have already explored all the possible ways to surprise the target audience. In this case, competitor analysis and a well-thought-out UI/UX design are more effective than MVP development. However, if you want to develop a chatbot, which will offer some mental health support to people, you should consider developing an MVP. There are not many of such solutions available today, and the industry of mental health care is definitely not as explored as it should be. If you want your app to be useful and used, you have to ask the users — sorry for such a blunt tautology.

How to develop an MVP?

The process of MVP development is both simple and complicated.

1. At first, you must have a clear idea in your mind: what solution are you going to offer to the market?

2. Then, you need to think about how this solution should be implemented: which platforms will it work on, web, desktop, mobile, or IoT?

3. After that, you elaborate on your idea: what functions, what types of users, what screens are going to be there? The best solution here is to prepare wireframes or mockups.

4. Now, you should sketch the corporate logo and style — your app should be unique and recognizable even if it is just an MVP.

5. Next, you have to elaborate on the development plan and technology stack that your application will be built with.

6. Finally, you prepare a marketing plan on how you will attract users, who will test your minimum viable product.

7. Only after each aforementioned point is checked, you can proceed to the development itself.

The process becomes easier if you hire an MVP development company. Those professionals who have developed not one and not two MVPs in their life, they know what to do and how. After all, hiring an MVP development agency helps you save a lot of time and effort and optimize the outcome.

What benefits does MVP offer?

Now comes the trickiest point – what are the benefits of MVP development. You will find many articles online, which cite five, seven, or event ten advantages of the MVP approach. I am sorry to say that it is not quite true. MVP has one and only one benefit. What is it?

MVP lets you understand if it is worth developing a product before you have invested yourself and your resources in it. It protects you from making a reckless mistake of developing an app which nobody needs, losing a lot of time, nerves, energy, and money. If the results of MVP testing show that your product will not be as popular as you expected, you should either work to advance your idea or let it go for good. If you test the MVP and it proves the potential of your idea, you can learn some important insights from this testing, which will show you the right path towards the market’s heart.

Summing Up

So, wrapping up everything I said before, I have to underline four major points:

1. MVP is a very simplified version of your product, which may have fewer functions or lower-quality code but fully represents your idea to the market and is usable and useful.

2. The purpose of MVP is to test innovative solutions, so not all the software solutions require an MVP.

3. The process of MVP development is lengthy and complex, but it becomes much easier with the help of MVP development services.

4. MVP offers only one benefit — it does not let you make a mistake of developing a useless software product.

#mvp #software #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology