Building a business is a journey filled with uncertainty and risk. To navigate this path successfully, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is crucial. An MVP helps you test your business idea with minimal resources, gather valuable feedback, and iterate quickly. In this blog post, we'll explore what an MVP is, why you need one, examples of MVP types, and the 4 essential features you need to include to ensure it serves its purpose effectively.
What Is An MVP?
An MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, is a simplified version of your product that includes only the core features necessary to address your users' primary needs and validate if your product is viable as a business.
The purpose of an MVP is to validate your business idea with the least amount of effort and expense possible. By launching an MVP, you can test your hypotheses, gather user feedback, and make informed decisions about the future development of your product.
Why Should I Build One?
If you want to build a business that isn’t destined to fail, then developing an MVP is non-negotiable.
According to research, there's a 90% chance of failure when starting a business, and 75% of those failures are due to not achieving product-market fit. Crucially, 66% of successful businesses attribute their success to launching an MVP. Therefore, building an MVP is not an optional step.
Aside from significantly reducing the risk of starting a business, building an MVP has several other benefits:
Customer Insights
Gain a deep understanding of your target audience’s needs and preferences, giving you the information you need to make the correct future strategic decisions.
Iterative Development
An estimated 80% of features in typical software products are rarely or never used by customers. Building an MVP allows you to use feedback to refine and improve your product incrementally.
Market Demand
Businesses that adopt an MVP approach typically bring products to market three times faster than those that follow traditional development methods. An MVP enables you to ensure there is a demand for your product before scaling and investing large capital.
Resource Allocation
Building an MVP typically costs 30% less than developing a full-fledged product. This is because you are forced to prioritise features that add the most value, avoiding unnecessary development costs.
What Are The Different Types of MVPs?
There are two key types of MVPs: low-fidelity and high-fidelity.
Low-Fidelity
A low-fidelity MVP is a low-investment method designed to gather feedback and validate hypotheses without the need to build an actual product.
It helps you deepen your understanding of your customers' issues, assess the potential value of a solution to these problems, determine whether addressing the problem is worthwhile, and identify the most effective solution for your customers.
High-Fidelity
A high-fidelity MVP is a functioning version of your product that showcases its core features, aimed at reaching early adopters and initial customers.
It allows you to test your product's early prototype with a real audience, discover how much customers are willing to pay, find early adopters who can become your first customers and advocates, and help you define and optimise your marketing strategy, including your value proposition, call to action, and communication channels. Additionally, it enables you to identify the best potential growth strategies.
For both types of MVPs, you have many options for the specific kind of MVP to build. The best MVP for your business will depend on the nature of the business idea and product you are trying to validate.
Below are detailed examples of commonly built MVPs so you can determine the best option for your business.
Low-Fidelity MVP Examples
Blogs
Setting up a blog is an easy and cost-effective way to validate ideas within your target market. It facilitates two-way communication with potential customers, allowing you to gather valuable feedback with minimal effort.
Forums
To better understand your customers' problems, existing forums dedicated to relevant topics offer a direct way to learn from potential customers. Engaging in these discussions can provide deep insights into their needs and pain points.
Landing Page
A landing page serves as a simple website to promote your product's proposed features and benefits. It's an excellent tool for collecting visitors' contact information, building a waiting list, and validating your value proposition.
Explainer Video
An explainer video is a concise and straightforward way to showcase the features and benefits of your product. This popular MVP approach helps generate interest and assess the potential traction of your idea by making it easy for people to understand your product without actually engaging with it.
Paper Prototypes
Paper prototypes, which are essentially sketches of a user interface, require significantly less time and effort than full design and development. They allow users to experience your product concept and provide input on its UX and features, making it easy to quickly iterate and refine your idea.
The ‘Fake Door’
The 'Fake Door' MVP involves presenting a sign-up option for a product or service that isn't yet available. By tracking how many people attempt to access it, you can measure interest. For example, a landing page with a call-to-action button leading to a "Coming Soon!" message can indicate potential demand based on click-through rates.
Audience Building
Building an audience before launching a product helps gauge interest and demand for the problem you're addressing. This low-cost approach not only provides valuable insights but also creates an engaged audience ready to participate in tests, interviews, and questionnaires when you decide to move to a High-Fidelity MVP.
High-Fidelity MVP Examples
Digital Prototypes
Digital prototypes, including wireframes, mock-ups, and clickable prototypes, are used to save time and money in development by demonstrating your product's functionality without diving into high-end designs and UX. They help identify and resolve usability and functionality issues early on, before significant investment in front-end design and development.
3D Model Prototype
Creating a 3D model of your product gives it a more professional appearance but is more expensive than a paper prototype. This option is particularly useful if your product is intended for manufacturing and isn’t a digital product.
The “Wizard of Oz” MVP
In the “Wizard of Oz” MVP, you present a façade that makes customers believe they are interacting with a fully functional product, while behind the scenes, human effort replicates the technology's functions. Although this approach requires more time and effort, it effectively gauges product desirability before full development, keeping technical costs low while proving interest in your product.
The “Concierge” MVP
Unlike the “Wizard of Oz” MVP, the “Concierge” MVP involves providing a human service that customers know about. This approach is useful when you're uncertain about the solution, while the “Wizard of Oz” MVP is best when you have a clear solution and need to test the market.
The “Piecemeal” MVP
A “Piecemeal” MVP combines elements of both the “Concierge” and “Wizard of Oz” approaches. It leverages existing tools and services to deliver a functional product, though it may require more human resources to manage the process due to the lack of integration between these technologies. This method saves time and money by using available services instead of building your own infrastructure.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding acts like pre-orders for your idea, allowing you to raise funds while testing demand. This approach not only gauges market interest but also raises money and generates a following of early adopters who can help spread the word about your product.
Single Featured MVP
Focusing on a single essential feature of your product can be more effective than testing multiple features. A Single Featured MVP prevents user distraction and provides a clear understanding of one specific problem or solution.
The 4 Essential Features To Include In Your MVP
Despite the various types of MVPs, there are fundamental features common to all that are crucial for creating an effective MVP. These features ensure that your MVP fulfils its primary purpose: validating your idea.
1. Core Functionality
At the heart of every MVP is its core functionality. Identify the primary problem your product aims to solve and ensure your MVP addresses it directly. This could just be a single feature that delivers the main value to your users. The focus should be on delivering the core value proposition effectively, without any unnecessary frills.
2. Clear Value Proposition
Communicate your product’s value proposition clearly and effectively. Users should immediately understand the benefits of your product and how it solves their problems. A compelling value proposition is key to attracting and retaining users, even in the early stages of product development.
3. User Feedback Mechanism
Incorporating tools to collect user feedback is vital. Whether through surveys, feedback forms, or in-app messaging, gathering user insights helps you understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. This feedback is invaluable for making informed decisions in future iterations of your product.
4. Robust Analytics
Basic analytics are necessary to track user behaviour and engagement. By understanding how users interact with your MVP, you can identify which features are most popular, where users encounter difficulties, and how long they engage with your product. This data guides your development priorities and improvement efforts.
By incorporating these essential features, your MVP will be well-equipped to achieve its purpose: validating your idea and setting the stage for future development.
Summary
Creating an MVP is a necessary strategic step in building a successful business. By focusing on the essential features and leveraging different types of MVPs to suit your product, you can validate your business idea efficiently and effectively. Remember, the goal is to learn and iterate, using real user feedback to guide your development process. Embrace the lean approach, and you’ll be well on your way to turning your vision into reality.
Kieran Audsley
Founderli CEO, Founder
