Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is an iterative development process that helps companies quickly test ideas and launch products. Learn more about MVPs, their benefits, and how to create one for your business with examples from successful companies.
Unlock the Benefits of Developing a Minimum Viable Product (with examples)
Did you know that over 90% of most startups fail because they misinterpret market needs? So, the first thing you must do is ensure that what you are going to sell is what the customers require. The dilemma is how to do that.
Developing a minimum viable product (MVP) might provide the answer. The practice shows that the best validation method is creating an MVP, which involves the product with a limited set of functions. Read on to learn more!
What Is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Once, Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that will not work.” There was no such thing as a “minimum viable product”, but the spirit of it always accompanied inventors.
The term “minimum viable product” (MVP) was coined by Frank Robinson in 2001 and popularized by Eric Ries and Steve Blank. According to them, it is the free-standing version of a new item that supports minimum yet must-have features, which are targeted at gathering customer feedback for further improvement.
In simple terms, developing a minimum viable product is aimed at building the basic form of a future product with just the core components needed to satisfy the initial customers.
The goal of creating an MVP is to grasp the value of the tested concept with a limited budget and time. This concept allows businesses to reduce the chances of making mistakes in the development process. It also helps focus on consumers’ needs and their feelings about an idea.
A minimum viable product (MVP) is often not a product…
… but it could be a potential new feature within an existing system.
An MVP can be just a landing page, or does not have to be anything at all. So why should you waste your time on it?
The Main Benefits of Minimum Viable Product
Check out our top 6 benefits of the minimum viable product (MVP) that ensure a successful launching.
1. Test business ideas
The biggest benefit of a minimum viable product is that it helps your startup test your business concepts. An MVP helps to understand whether the target audience is interested in your idea and whether they are willing to pay for it. It will be difficult for the startup to change anything later because you will have to redesign the entire product.
2. Minimize spending
More complex startups require more investment. You will have to pay for each additional feature or better design. But creating an MVP needs minimal resources. Simple business logic means easy development. Furthermore, if an MVP is unsuccessful, the cost of the mistake will be reduced.
3. Save your time
Would you rather spend months developing an application that might fail, or use that same time for creating an application, that is more suitable and user-friendly? You will need as little time as possible for developing a minimum viable product.
4. Get feedback
Feedback is one of the main reasons why developers advise making an MVP for a startup. It is extremely important to clearly understand what users think of your idea. This way, the product development team can take the right direction to release useful features to meet customer needs.
5. Quick release
A minimum viable product (MVP) can allow a startup to firmly establish itself as the first entry into the market ahead of its competitors. With a quick launch, your startup can also get a chance to test the product at the initial stage and get quick feedback.
6. Attract investors
When an idea is only in your head, it may not seem very solid to investors. One of the benefits of a minimum viable product is that you will have something more substantial than just your thoughts and words. It certainly increases your chances of being seen and heard.
Top 3 Types of MVP
There are many approaches to developing a minimum viable product (MVP). We picked the three most popular templates and broke them down.
1. Wizard of Oz MVP
Wizard of Oz MVP is an effective and quick approach to testing concepts to see whether the proposed solution will create value for customers or not. It is the half-manual, half-functioning method. Although users believe they are using an app, the main functionality is handled by people or “wizards,” who are hidden from view.
Works best for: testing the representation of the solution itself using just a few features.
2. Piecemeal MVP
Piecemeal MVP is a very basic and simple version of the end product. The benefit of a minimum viable product “piecemeal” is that instead of developing everything from scratch or pulling extra resources, you can use the already existing tools and materials.
Works best for: solutions with a limited budget.
3. Single-Feature MVP
Single Feature MVP is also called “One Painkiller”. This template is used to test and validate the demand for one feature in a product. Usually, it is useful at stages where entrepreneurs want to introduce new features or test the reliability of third-party integrations.
Works best for: verifying the technical feasibility of a startup.
Stages of Creating an MVP
There are many ways of creating an MVP roadmap, the steps below can be used as a general guide:
- Define your business goals. Determine whether there is a market need for your idea. Research your rivals’ strategies and figure out how to differentiate your offering from the rest.
- Understand your target audience. You must know your audience — who will be using your product? There is a high probability that you will have users in more than one category.
- Identify features. What features will have the most significant impact on your business goals? Too many features can detract from the product’s overall goal and negatively impact the user experience.
- Roadmapping. It helps you outline the overall product vision and business strategy. Start by breaking down each feature into smaller tasks that need to be completed. Then, assign each task to a specific team member and set a deadline.
- Launching. Make sure you prepare the launch carefully before making it available to your target audience.
- Collecting feedback. After launching your MVP, it’s essential to gather feedback from your users.
It is crucial to test, measure, and then test again until the product is finished.
3 Real-Life MVP Examples for Inspiration
Let’s move on to examples of minimum viable products (MVP) that eventually grew into successful businesses.
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004. His original intention was to connect Harvard students. Facebook’s MVP version called “Facemash” was incredibly simple. Soon it developed into “Thefacebook”, a valid MVP of social networks. Developers opened access to everyone following a year of testing with segmented audiences. As a result, “Facebook” transformed into the platform we use today.
Airbnb
Airbnb started as a simple site in 2007 when Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were having trouble paying the rent on their San Francisco apartment. They came up with a solution at that point: letting visitors rent their apartments for a short period to make extra money. Men quickly concluded that there was a demand for people who wanted to rent out their flats. The website was redesigned after proving its concept.
Spotify
Spotify was created by Swedish entrepreneurs Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon in 2006. The first MVP had few of the features you might be familiar with and love today, and it could only stream songs. However, the MVP offered a wonderful experience for music lovers to stream more songs. Then developers launched a closed beta to check their concept. Understanding that their business model was validated, they rolled out a full launch.
In conclusion
From these examples, it’s easy to see why most startups go the minimum viable product (MVP) route to deliver their products to the market. Creating an MVP is viable for technically-oriented products used by users who are often keen on how to improve or update the product.Are you an innovative entrepreneur with a great idea but don’t know where to start? Look no further! GrandySoft offers comprehensive software development services, that can help you create an MVP tailored to your business needs. With our experienced and skilled team of developers, you are guaranteed to get a well-designed and high-quality product ready to hit the market.