What is a MVP?

In the world of product development, a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) refers to a product with the bare minimum features needed to validate and evaluate a product and it’s continued development.

Often at times a MVP allows something to built within a short time-frame to better validate the idea/concept with the realities of the market.

One would be able to test the idea with real potential customers and gather their feedback to better understand the problems it is addressing.  It helps guide the further development of the product or at times, it might even lead to the realization that the market is not interested in such a product.

In our papers all ideas sound perfect, on paper some ideas sound great, but the true moment arises at a MVP stage when actual potential clients & users come in touch with it and see if it is actually addressing an issue.

A MVP can be a cost effective approach to starting a startup.  Even if the initial MVP doesn’t address the market need exactly, there are often ways to adapt the business model or product to pivot towards some new innovation… just think about it when YouTube launched it was a Video Dating Site, only when the first concept hit the masses did they realize they were onto something much larger and there was a lot more potential if they were to pivot.

The emphasis is on the Minimum to save you time and costs; you don’t want to build out a full featured product that is ideal in your head without actually realizing it isn’t wanted by anyone.  A MVP is to help minimize your costs of working on the endeavor while maximizing potential growth through feedback and building something towards what people would want.

In some cases, when you believe you are working on something revolutionary, a MVP can still help identify if it is solving specific issues.  The first versions of products rarely look like the same product years later.  You don’t want to spend a never-ending time constantly building something because it still isn’t ‘perfect’ in your mind.