How can you effectively prioritize features for your MVP?

In my experience, understanding your target audience's needs and distinguishing your solution's unique value is essential. Your value proposition serves as a compass, directing the selection of features that directly address your customers' pain points. A minimal viable product (MVP) should prioritize these essential features, showcasing the core benefits of your offering without unnecessary extras. This strategy ensures that your initial product resonates strongly with your audience, validating its usefulness before expanding with additional features.

There are tons of frameworks to prioritize features to be part of MVP like Kano analysis, RICE, Pareto principles, MoSCoW and others. The easiest way to go about things is 1. Add business value to each of the feature 2. Go about identifying the dependencies 3. Add the sequence number based on the dependencies 4. Now arrange the features based on highest business value 5. Keep in mind the NFR features too 6. This way MVP features can be easily identified Furthermore always seek feedback from your customers once you have the MVP backlog ready. Happy PMing! #ProductManagement #KPKR

Strategic MVP Prioritization for Success. Launching a product is exhilarating, but the journey to an MVP demands strategic decision-making. Prioritize effectively with these steps: 1. User-Centric Approach: Address audience pain points for immediate value. 2. Must-Have vs. Nice-to-Have: Focus on essential features for a solid foundation. 3. Feasibility Assessment: Prioritize technically feasible features aligned with your team's expertise. 4. Iterative Development: Embrace agility for quick releases and user feedback. 5. Market Validation: Prioritize features validating product-market fit to minimize risks. An MVP is a journey of learning and adaptation.

To prioritize features for your MVP (Minimum Viable Product), focus on the core functionalities that solve the main problem for your users. Use feedback from target customers, assess the impact versus effort for each feature, and choose those that provide the most value with the least complexity.

When conducting interviews or researching the competition, the discovery team may get lost in the solutions, whether they be products or the existing processes that users have. However, the job of a product manager is to see through everything and understand what problem your team is trying to solve. This empathy with your user allows you to put yourself in their shoes and ask questions such as: - Why are the available solutions not enough for me? - Am I trying to solve a specific problem or do I need a generalized tool? - How would I use that? These answers will enable you to prototype a solution and help you define the unique value proposition, serving as a framework for decision-making later in the development process.

Primary objective of an MVP is to test the defined hypothesis. An approach could be to identify the primary use case or core functionality and define how that use case can be achieved with minimun set of features in your product. Product managers should ensure that they do not overload the product with features while defining a minimum viable product.

In the initial stages of MVP development, it's crucial to identify and challenge assumptions about what users need and value. My approach involves mapping out hypotheses about user behavior and needs, then identifying risks associated with these assumptions. For instance, if we assume educators prefer video content over text, what risks does this pose if wrong? This method helps in focusing on developing features that test these critical assumptions while being mindful of potential risks and their impact on the MVP's success.

While MVPs are designed to validate key product hypotheses and should be part of an iterative process of improvement, in practice, many companies treat MVPs as the first full version of a product. Even more challenging, stakeholders often see the MVP as the only chance to meet their requirements, leading to scope creep. To address this, product leaders can take two critical steps: Educate the team and stakeholders on the primary goal of an MVP. Its main purpose is to test and validate the core hypothesis. Build trust by implementing a robust, iterative product discovery and development process. This approach can help manage expectations and demonstrate that the MVP is just one step in a continual process of refinement and enhancement.

When shaping your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), it's crucial to identify your assumptions and risks. Assumptions are beliefs about your product, market, and user base that need validation. Risks are potential challenges that might hinder your product's success. For instance, you might believe users need a specific feature but remain uncertain about their willingness to pay for it. Alternatively, there's a risk of losing users if the product is overly complex or unreliable. Features that should take priority are those enabling you to test these assumptions and reduce risks. By focusing on these aspects, you can develop a more user-centric MVP, quickly adapt to market feedback, and minimize potential setbacks.

List all the beliefs you have about your project and market, then challenge them. Consider what could go wrong with each assumption. Analyze the likelihood and potential impact of these risks to prioritize which ones need a mitigation strategy.

We used RICE for prioritisation framework that helps us focus on what truly matters. RICE stands for Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort: Reach: How many people will be affected by this initiative? Impact: What positive change will it bring to users or the business? Confidence: How sure are you about the expected outcome? Effort: How much time and resources will it take to implement? Here's how RICE works: Assign a score to each factor (1-10). Multiply Reach, Impact, and Confidence to get the "potential value." Divide the potential value by Effort to get the RICE score. Prioritise initiatives with the highest RICE scores.

One prioritisation framework that I extensively use for is KANO model. Other have commented on RICE but that metric is more for a stable product. Also, one can come up with their own framework. I was working on creating an orchestration platform for supply chain and to prioritise my work I made a simple metric with three parameters - Fundamental nature x Impact / Engineering Complexity. Now numerator are product related score and denominator is engineering driven. The main reason we used this was to map out our strategic initiatives also. There were features with high product and engineering score which we had to balance out while deciding the delivery line in to MVP. My advice, use KANO model.

Employing a structured prioritization framework is key to objective decision-making. In my experience, tools like the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) or the RICE scoring system (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) have been invaluable. These frameworks allow us to categorize features based on their importance and impact, ensuring that the most critical functionalities that align with our user's needs and our product's goals are developed first.

When you're starting your product, it's wise to keep things simple. I recommend utilizing the MoSCoW method, a straightforward and efficient approach to prioritizing product requirements. It's an acronym for Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, and Won't-have. By classifying requirements into these four categories, teams can concentrate on the most crucial features and avoid spending time on unnecessary ones.

Using a prioritization framework helps you systematically evaluate which features, projects, or tasks to focus on first. Popular frameworks include the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have), the RICE scoring system (Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort), the Kano model (categorizing features based on customer satisfaction), and the Eisenhower Matrix (urgent vs. important). Choose the one that best fits your project's needs and complexity.

My process - clearly define the target users and core issue to solve. Get in their mindset - what one product capability would make their life markedly easier? That's likely the MVP's core. Also create two lists - must-haves (without which it doesn't function) and nice-to-haves (bonus points for later). Ask potential users bluntly - if this product only did X or Y, what would make you use it? Gets right to what they find essential. Lastly, pay close attention after launching how people first react and what they ask for reveals valuable insights on what to consider adding next to enhance value. In short - pinpoint the baseline user need, build just those indispensable elements first and solicits candid input to guide smart expansion.

Gathering feedback is a continuous and essential process. In developing educational products, I engage with a diverse range of users - from teachers to students, and administrators - to gather insights. Additionally, stakeholder feedback, especially from those with a deep understanding of the education sector, is crucial. This feedback not only validates our assumptions but also brings new perspectives, helping us refine the feature list to ensure our MVP truly resonates with our target audience.

What Instagram, YouTube, and Slack have in common? They all pivoted early in development and grew into huge successes. No matter how solid the research is, how thoroughly the discovery team conducts interviews, or how strongly opinionated the reference clients are, no product is immune from being a miss. It is crucial to validate every single hypothesis with each iteration. Gather data, conduct interviews, read the feedback, and act accordingly. It might hurt the ego, incur significant costs, and force you to let go of features. But, in the end, we create products for users, and we should learn from them – understanding the problems we're solving, evaluating effectiveness, and if it doesn't work, determining how we can change that.

It is important to identify who are the actual users and what is the target persona. It is more often mentioned that the product development process involves many users but still, the product is not close to market fit or fulfilling the stakeholder's requirements. It is important to identify the current user persona and prepare the correct testing environment. Also, it is mandatory to observe and understand the user's behavior in the environment where they interact with the product. Stakeholder involvement and alignment is important to be sure process and development are not only aligned with users' requirements but also with organizations' expectations and goals. Our goal should be finding the sweet spot between users and stakeholders.

The biggest mistake after launch is failing to constantly re-evaluate and refine your MVP. Just because a feature made it into the initial release doesn't mean it should remain forever. Set up telemetry to understand exactly how users interact with each feature. Watch for unused ones to cut. Double down on features driving engagement and retention. But don't just rely on data - keep talking to users as their needs evolve. Be willing to kill your darlings if something considered core at first becomes non-essential.

The development of an MVP is an iterative process. Based on the feedback and data collected, we constantly refine and adjust our feature set. This might mean deprioritizing certain features or enhancing others. In the education technology sector, where user needs can evolve rapidly, this flexibility is critical. This iterative approach ensures that the MVP evolves in a way that continually aligns with user needs and market demands, setting a strong foundation for the full product development.

Applying MVP in specific contexts, like in Railway Systems with embedded and dependable components, can be challenging. According to my experience, there are two main areas to take into account: - Complexity & Safety: Railway Systems are complex and have stringent safety requirements. This means that even the "minimum" viable product must meet high standards of reliability and safety, which can be challenging and resource-intensive; - Interdependencies & Regulatory Compliance: Railway Systems often involve integrated hardware and software components that must work seamlessly together. An MVP in this context needs to ensure that these interdependent parts function reliably as a unit. Consider that product compliance overall is the target.

Based on my background at a B2B early-stage startup, to prioritize features for an early-stage B2B data product MVP, focus on these strategies: - Core User Needs: Address top pain points with relevant features. Work with design partners to understand core user needs. - MoSCoW Method: Categorize features by necessity and focus on essentials. - Rapid Prototyping and Feedback: Validate features with user input. - Impact vs. Effort: Prioritize high-impact, low-effort features. - Flexibility to Pivot: Adapt based on user feedback and usage data.

In my view MVP is most critical part of any product in it's journey towards a great product. Following should be considered: 1. At what stage product is in it's life cycle journey. If it's in embryonic stage, growth will be faster. 2. What are the pain areas being addressed and showcase solution to ONLY one key problem that can be add value to the customer. 3.Decide success criteria. 4. Seek inputs from industry experts on pain areas and their expectations. 5. Create a roadmap based on these inluts and keep them updated. Incorporate suggestions in early stages in MVP1 or latest by MVP3. 6. MVP will have better acceptance if we follow above and keep stakeholders updated.

For MVP scoping, I like using the storyboard method, as it's visual and makes it easy for me to do the features breakdown and then share the screen with my team while we discuss (using RICE or similar) and drag'n'drop the features out of the MVP release section. In short, I try to drag out of each vertical everything that is not absolutely necessary, while my horizontal (MPV) still conveys the UVP from my lean canvas.