What is the right Minimum Viable Product in Digital Business?

An MVP (Minimum Viable Product Example) is a minimalist but functional version of a product, interface, or service. It allows :

•  accelerate the time to market (time to market),
•  quickly confront a business idea to the market,
•  and validate whether it meets the primary needs of future users.

Gathering opinions on this first minimum viable product example will allow us to efficiently orient the development and future improvements of the finished product iteratively. It is a strategy to know your target, its use of the product, all quickly and at a low cost.

The 3 principles of MVP:

Minimum

An MVP is not a finished product, but it must work and meet your target’s primary need. One or two features can be enough to create a viable product as long as they meet his criteria.

The goal is to develop the product quickly, save time, and get it to market as quickly as possible. This notion of minimum is also understood in terms of costs, since the fewer features there are, the less expensive the version.

Viable

Unlike a simple prototype, bringing an MVP to market also allows you to test its ability to generate value, whether in terms of :

• revenue,
• brand image,
• cost reduction.

Objective: that the resources implemented for the development of the future product or service generate a return on investment (ROI).

This way, you measure the interest of the target for the product even more precisely until you know if they are willing to pay to acquire or use it

Product

Although the MVP is only a brief version of the finished product, it must be usable. The following are essential

• good technical stability,
• a well-thought-out user experience.

Objective: this first version, however imperfect, must seduce its users and not disappoint them with technical bugs, for example.

The importance of the minimum viable product in the agile Lean Startup method

The MVP is part of the Lean Startup method, which consists of launching a product based on experimentation.

Popularized by Eric Ries in 2008, this Agile method starts from the user needing to launch the MVP and follows a build-measure-learn loop. The general idea is to learn by doing and to base development on user feedback as much as possible:

• build a product as early as possible and confront it with the customer;
• measure what worked and what needs to be improved;
• learn from the feedback to propose a better version.

By following the Lean Startup method, you act and validate your concept quickly and at a low cost.

Minimum Viable Product: What Startups use and how?

The advantage of a minimum viable product is that it allows you to test the viability of their idea. You would get one result with minimal effort if it tested the MVP case on a very targeted sample of clients. They will then provide product reviews:

• Are they convinced of the need for this product?
• What are the pros and cons?
• Are you interested in the product?

In addition, a product prototype is developed quickly and inexpensively. You test your idea without wasting a budget and too much time. If the feedback is good, you can quickly deploy his project. This approach allows you to limit the number of mistakes. This is very important because failure is hard to stomach if it occurs after a significant amount of financial resources and many months of work have been spent.

The MVP implementation provides very valuable insight for the business builder. From the very beginning, you will be able to convey the idea to potential customers. Then you can consider several scenarios depending on this feedback.

If customers who have tested the product are convinced of this, the company/start-up has every chance to attract its target customers, whose needs and purchase criteria will be the same.

Otherwise, you must admit that your product is not suitable for customers. To respond to this observation, which inevitably leads to change, we must analyze the feedback. Several scenarios can arise:

• product adaptation to eliminate the raised negative points,
• complete modification of the offer,
•  targeting a different segment of customers.

Why do you need these Minimum Viable Product Examples?

A startup offers a product or service to meet certain needs of the TA. The higher the importance of the problem for the consumer, the more valuable the proposed solution is. Implementing an MVP example allows at the initial stages of business development to establish how the product meets the expectations and needs of the customer. Accordingly, the company’s management and investors get the data necessary to decide on the fate of the startup.

10 Minimum Viable Product Examples

We’ve tried to pick the most popular MVP development strategies for you in 2021. But it is worth understanding that there is no single correct strategy for developing the MVP in business. Everything depends on many factors and because of this, the choice of development path is as individual as possible.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Product Design

Product design in the MVP concept is an iterative way of working. A process often used by UX designers to quickly design a product to know its purpose. Based on many years of experience in product design, we can tell you that such a strategy allows you to implement the MVP in several ways, from sketches to mockups. 

Moreover, this strategy can be useful if your goal is mobile platforms, such as android MVP examples. Then, you can use wireframe models that will show the UX that will be pleasing to the user. We’ve already written a detailed material on Product Design. And if Product Design MVP is your way, it won’t be out of place to read it.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Software Prototypes

MVPs can be real software with a minimal set of features, the basic ones needed for testing. The example of WhatsApp has already described the most common version of creating an MVP software prototype. It is an application or program that performs one or two functions necessary to test your idea’s viability.

If the application’s main functionality is not interesting for the users, it is pointless to continue investing effort, time, and resources into the development. This way, you can narrow down the target group, get feedback and analysis, and focus on testing.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Landing page

This MVP example is what we could call “sell before you build” and consists of starting with just a landing page describing the product to be developed with a link to request more information. The correct development of such an MVP does not take a lot of time and resources. Google advertising or other means are used to generate traffic to this page and offer the product. 

In this simple experiment, it is possible to test how much interest there is in the product – for example, if 0% of the visitors click on the offer to buy, then there is no reason to develop the product, we already know that there is no interest in it. It is better to use these resources to redefine the product and find out what features the market wants.

Minimum Viable Product Example: MVP content

In this case, Minimum Viable Product examples are represented through content. And the MVP itself may not yet exist. A good example is explainer videos. You present the idea with a video, even though the MVP may not exist yet.

In other words, you shoot a demo video about how your product will work, what functions it will have, what user needs will be addressed. The key thing is to show users what your product is and get feedback.

Dropbox is a great example. The product has not yet been “born” but the creators have published a demo video for 4 minutes, where they explained the idea. People who watched the video subscribed to the newsletter. Overnight, the base of potential users increased from 5 thousand to 75.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Piecemeal

It’s a cheap way to present your application to users. A functioning demonstration of your product, the partial minimum viable product is built from off-the-shelf tools and a bit of innovation. In this way, you are giving users one critical function that will solve a basic user problem. However, you will be building an MVP based on an already working platform. An example of this concept is Groupon, an early version of a combination of WordPress, Apple Mail, and Apple Script creating and sending PDF files.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Wizard of Oz

This type of MVP product includes human intervention, allowing the user to take action while allowing them to believe that the application is acting automatically.

This type of MVP aims is to replace the core processes (sometimes very technical) for the proper functioning of your application with human intervention to limit investment in time/money.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Concierge

This Minimum Viable Product template is very similar to the “Wizard of Oz,” except that instead of making users believe everything is automated, you let them know it takes a human to make your idea work. … And this person is you!

You are at the center of the service you want to provide to your users. Then you are in the front row to collect valuable feedback and work on automating the processes you are currently doing manually. The Concierge MVP then allows you to test your service idea in the most concrete way, even without developing a product, however simple it may be.

Minimum Viable Product Example: First man

The next MVP (Minimum Viable Product) example contains only the essential functions necessary to learn from the “early evangelists” – the visionary customers and early adopters.

Typically, the product is aimed at such customers, who are in principle more tolerant, more willing to provide feedback and have a greater ability to understand the product vision with just a prototype or basic product information, besides helping to fill gaps in the desired functionality.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Social Networks

Social media is a free showcase for companies and a good way to realize MVP examples. This is a very useful option to avoid investing in creating an online store before knowing if your project is viable.

All you have to do is create a page that advertises the product or service you are selling. Of course, until it has been produced or developed. If the user is interested, he can leave his contact information to get more information about the product.

It’s important to redirect traffic to that landing page, usually through paid media campaigns – such as Facebook or Instagram Ads. It’s true that managing orders through this platform is tedious and inconvenient. However, on the contrary, the required investment is minimal.

Minimum Viable Product Example: Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding campaigns become a great opportunity for MVP business, as these platforms can be seen at heart as collections of minimally viable products, where we can explore the place that the final products have in the marketplace through the contributions that participants make.

The essence of this type is that crowdfunding platforms make it possible to receive donations even before the release of the product.

Pebble can be called an example of a successful MVP on a fundraising platform. Thanks to their good audience approach and marketing, they have raised over 10 million Kickstarter donations.

Easy Steps: How to build a Minimum Viable Product?

Once we have solved the question of what is the minimum viable product, we suggest you read the basic steps to create an MVP.

BA & Business Model

Surely done before the launch of your start-up, the market study allows you to define your target precisely. So if you haven’t done it yet, it’s now or never. And qualified help is best suited for this.

The apparent target helps you fine-tune your MVP business meaning by allowing you to differentiate yourself from the competition, answer a problem that affects your target audience and develop the beginnings of your communication strategy.

Market analysis may include the following points:

• Is this a new market niche or is the market already saturated?
• What are the tactics of the major market leaders to stay ahead? Do they prevent new entrants from entering the market by offering similar products themselves? Do they immediately buy out their competitors or differentiate themselves from them by innovating further?
• Does the product idea address a niche need or a more general need?
• What are the most popular products in the market sector, and why? (Aesthetics, price, comfort, and functionality)
• What are the normal/minimal functions that customers expect? (Example: quick login using existing logins like Google, Facebook on gaming sites, ABS brakes and air conditioning on a car
• The next step is a more deep analysis. The SWOT method will help you. The SWOT analysis is a technique of strategic planning. Its essence is to analyze the factors affecting the object under study.

In particular, it is necessary to determine the product:

• Strengths;
• Weaknesses;
• Opportunities;
• Threats.

Strengths and Weaknesses are because of the influence of internal factors. Opportunities and Threats are determined by external factors. The task of the SWOT analysis is to focus on the strengths,  identify and minimize the weaknesses,  prevent potential threats, and fully use the opportunities for development.

In addition, it will be very useful to analyze your potential client. You need to understand the order of users’ actions for purchasing your MVP.

The customer journey should be short, simple and convenient. A detailed description of all customer actions will help understand what information is missing or what details will help in presenting the product.

MVP Functions and goals

The most important step in developing a minimum viable product, even the simple MVP landing page example, is to focus on the main idea of the product and the customer’s needs.

A startup creator shouldn’t risk investing time and money in developing a product that might not interest customers. Therefore, test your product idea, in this case, a vehicle, with a concept that costs you as cheaply as possible.

The next step would be to list your features in terms of priority. Which feature is the most important and which one creates the most value in the short term? After defining that, you can put the remaining features into a product roadmap to define what you will build once your product takes off.

To better understand your product’s feature set, rate all features on a scale of 1-10, considering Product Importance, Complexity, and User Value. You can make better timing decisions for your product when you understand the various components of each feature set.

Choose your example

An MVP in business is always part of the agile development process. You need to start by defining what your product will look like so that you can then answer questions about your product idea. You also should offer your customers a solution, which has to be innovative.

In 2006, a simple and initial version of Spotify was acceptable to early adopters of music streaming. The business has likely failed in an era where streaming services are driven by artificial intelligence, dynamic sites, and mobile downloads. Expectation levels have clearly risen. Generate enthusiasm among early adopters:

• Create an effect of curiosity by using posts on social media.
• If you take care of the usability of your MVP, you will increase the number of positive customer reviews. These returns will whet the curiosity of new customers.
• Highlight your product idea.
• The beautiful design makes the product even more attractive.

As in the classical pyramid of needs, any product is subject to hierarchical requirements. So invest primarily in the following:

• Functionality
• Reliability
•  Friendliness

Maslow’s pyramid will help you tremendously in this aspect. It shows with the purple marks how you should weigh the various requirements for a minimally viable product.

If you manage to meet all of your expectations and needs (without going overboard), we’re talking about a minimally excellent product. During the build-measure-study process, the purple area increases in the needs pyramid, ideally with each iteration.

Build and test

The minimum viable product is always a part of the agile development process. You need to start by deciding what your product is going to look like, so you can answer questions about your product idea.

You also need to offer customers an innovative solution. In 2006, the simple, initial version of Spotify was acceptable to the early adopters of streaming music. The level of expectations has risen sharply. Creating excitement among Early Adopters:

• Create a curiosity effect by using posts on social networks.
• If you make your MVP user-friendly, you will increase the number of positive consumer reviews. This feedback will fuel the curiosity of new customers.
• Make your product idea stand out.
• A delicate design makes the product even more enviable.

And after you have already created your MVP, it’s time to test it. Launch the first version of the product for a narrow group of consumers. 

Usually, the first users are friends, acquaintances, relatives. If there are no defects, you can move on to beta-testing. Offer the product to real consumers. After one or two weeks, collect and analyze the feedback. Refine the MVP and test it again.

The length and number of test-development cycles depend entirely on the product and how quickly you can create a complete solution. Maybe after a few cycles, you’ll have to go back to the first stage or continue to improve the MVP iteratively. In any case, your decision will not be based on assumptions but on actual facts.

Analysis and improvement

Next comes the analysis and interpretation of the feedback about your MVP. Now you have to collect user comments and interpret that data, evaluate whether the product or service is really ready to launch, what modifications are needed, or whether the idea is not that interesting.

You have to be very careful with your comments, filter out what is interesting to evaluate from what doesn’t make much sense for your business, and, of course, know that you are aiming for profitability with this solution.

Next, you should apply the information to the design of the final product. If there are many changes, you can repeat this experience, but do not let this process spread too long, not to lose time commercializing it.

Minimum viable product example: Summary

In this article, we learned what an MVP is, its importance to successful product and service development, best practices, and mistakes to avoid.

It is very important that you follow this step by step to create an MVP and get excellent results, avoiding the loss of a good idea.

Finally, you must keep in mind that a minimally viable product is not a “cheaper version of the product” but a test of whether the value proposition and the whole solution format are suitable for the community and the market.