If you’re planning to build a digital product, a mobile or web app, you should think about how to address your future users’ needs and predict potential risks early on in the development process.
Building a minimum viable product (MVP), a version of a product that has just the essential features, just enough to add value and to be used by your first customers, will help you learn if your app’s core purpose adds any value to your target customer. You will get feedback early on in your startup’s development and solidify your growth strategy.
Why is it worth creating an MVP?
There’s a long list of benefits that come with building a minimum viable product before committing to the full scope of your project.
One of the advantages is that you can quickly add value to your users. This gives you the opportunity to gather feedback while minimising development costs.
If certain features need to be changed, removed, or require further development, you can do so efficiently and without wasting many resources. You’ll be able to learn more about user behaviour and your target market. Also, mistakes made early in your product’s development are much less costly than the same mistakes made with a more complex app.
MVPs are fantastic tools for testing. Based on direct observations, you’ll be able to plan your roadmap for new development. You can also use your MVP to devise strategies that’ll help you gain and expand your user base.
If you’re looking for funding, having a working prototype of your idea will go a long way in helping you gain support.
Finally, an MVP makes it easier to pivot, as shifting your focus and changing the core features of the app won’t be so costly.
One of the important decisions to be made when building an MVP is choosing the technology. However, because an MVP is meant to be a fast and easy first step towards further development, it’s best to know which market and platform (web, mobile, desktop, iOS, or Android) you want to explore first. Otherwise, you risk splitting your focus.
Launching a web MVP may be faster because there are no certification and acceptance procedures to go through. There’s no need to worry about entering the appropriate app store. What is interesting is that industry giants such as Facebook and Airbnb started out with web apps and expanded with mobile versions later down the line. Nowadays, with the predominance and ubiquity of mobile platforms, you might be better off starting with a mobile app. If your use case is more appropriate for a mobile app, a web MVP won’t serve your purpose. Remember also that the mobile market is split between two major platforms — Android and iOS. If you want to enter both, you might need a technology that facilitates multi-platform development (e.g., React Native).
Here is a list of good practices to create a successful MVP in web development:
- Define your business goals and get to know your market
First, you need to define the business goals, and target user needs that the MVP is supposed to address. This can be difficult, and going through a Product Design Sprint can help you avoid mistakes in this early stage. It’s an overall positive rule that successful products don’t happen because you’re lucky — they are created to fix a real problem.
To make sure such is the case with your MVP, conduct your market research — and make sure to speak to people (investors, users, experts, etc.). There’s a high probability that a product like yours already exists. This doesn’t mean you should give up on your idea and do something else, but you need to learn from and improve existing solutions. Consider serving a specific niche — that kind of focus can become one of your competitive advantages.
- Figure out which features are essential, nice-to-have, and add-ons
List all the features you want your product to have that will add value for your customers. Map user journeys and user flows, focusing on user experience (UX). You should also come up with your product’s unique selling proposition (USP). An MVP should have just enough features to show customers what makes your product special.
Once you have a list of features, you may want to divide them into three categories: the essentials, the nice-to-have, and the add-ons. A division like this may be good for extracting the bare essentials of your product. Having this list, you will know what you want to build first.
- Consider building a proof of concept prototype
Having a PoC (proof of concept) before you start working on an MVP can be an amazing tool for early-stage validation of your idea. It will also help you show belief in your product among your team, stakeholders, and investors.
- Define your MVP’s success goals
Define the MVP’s success goals with your product development company — the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you check when you should invest more time or resources into product development.
- Measure progress
Once all that’s done, coding and actually building the product can begin.
Remember to measure your progress and learn from it. Use your time wisely and showcase your product to users and investors to start gaining traction. Run tests and keep an eye on your product’s performance, making sure it is ready to make a lasting positive impression.
- Keep in mind that “minimum viable” does not mean “careless”
Throughout the development process, your focus must be on building a minimum viable product. Remember that minimum doesn’t mean sloppy.
Your team must build the essential functions of the app that solve a defined problem and not much else — but these core functions need to be well-designed and compelling to users. In this context, viable means usable and effective in gaining traction with your early adopters.
- Go all-in on expertise and don’t cut corners
Don’t delude yourself into cutting corners, thinking you’ll come back and deal with issues later. Likewise, go all-in on expertise. Your MVP is the best way to test your product, so get it out there as quickly as you can — but make sure it represents your brand. Don’t delay your app’s launch to add new features to it — the point is to have something that “sticks”. Don’t go overboard with over-the-top features, either. There’ll be time for that after you perfect your bare essential features. Make sure you’re tracking user behavior and use those learnings to improve your product.
This is not an exhaustive list but, at Runtime Revolution, because we have been involved in the early development and scaling of many digital products, if you want to know if we are the right partner to build your MVP, you can always reach out to us. We believe we can be your best partner, but we might be biased. ;)