Unfortunately this article won't be about the most valuable player. We are here to discuss a 'Minimum Viable Product' a.k.a MVP. Techopedia defines MVP as a development technique in which a new product or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters. In layman terms, define the needed features before making the perfect product.
Understanding an MVP
Businesses and startups make a common error in thinking they will get a product with every feature requested. Although that would be great, development should be performed in stages. The idea of an MVP is to get enough features to delight the user and get an understanding on what is being used and what isn't in an application. Companies should want a working product that gets the user from A to B and learn from the user feedback and interactions that occur.
“An MVP is a down payment on a larger vision.” — Johnny Holland
Successful MVPs
Spotify
Now a massive application, Spotify first started their business by focussing on a single feature of music streaming experience. The company was able to test the market and follow an iterative product cycle:
- Think It — Decide what product to build, then build prototypes and test viability internally.
- Build It — Create a physical MVP ready for user testing.
- Ship It — Gradually release the MVP to all users while collecting data and improving.
- Tweak It — Iterate continuously based on feedback until product is shut down or revamped (returning us to Think It).
Using this iterative process type, Spotify could react to user activity data and create an app that is built for the user. Adding on features that they think would work, developing that feature, analysing the feature and tweaking the feature for better use.
Airbnb
The founders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia sparked up an idea to provide accommodation for incoming travellers of San Francisco. With the creation of their website, AirBed&Breakfast. Alongside marketing to a niece audience and snapping photos of their apartment they had their first customers igniting a major competitor to the accomodation industry.
Airbnb "provides only the single most important service (its core functionality)." Having a niche market and a product that focuses on a core functionality, lead Airbnb to the top. Once their product was launched, they are able to test and learn from real users to continue improving their minimum viable product.
Uber
In the beginning, Uber focussed on connecting a rider with a driver and receiving the payments. After years of adaptations Uber has grown massively from user feedback and expanding on that data. Now the app includes numerous new features that add to the delight of user experience:
- Live-tracking of drivers
- Fare estimations
- Fare splitting
- Instant credit and debit card payments
Fonseka Innovations are Minimum Viable Product specialists. We can help guide your startup or business to create a successful product that can adapt to the market and succeed for the future. If you have an application concept, get in touch with us.
References
Bank, Chris. (2014). Building Minimum Viable Products at Spotify. Retrieved from https://speckyboy.com/building-minimum-viable-products-spotify/
redbytes. (2018). 11 Famous Apps Tat Started From MVP. Retrieved from https://www.redbytes.in/11-famous-apps-that-started-from-mvp/
Techopedia. (n.d.) Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Retrieved from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/27809/minimum-viable-product-mvp
Viktoria K. & Vlad. V (2019). How to Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Retrieved from https://rubygarage.org/blog/how-to-build-a-minimum-viable-product
