What's the best way to plan your MVP development?

1 What is an MVP?

An MVP is not a prototype, a demo, or a beta version of your product. It is the simplest version of your product that can deliver the core value proposition to your target audience. The goal of an MVP is to test your hypothesis, learn from your users, and iterate quickly. An MVP should have enough functionality to solve a real problem or satisfy a real need, but not more than that.

3 How to prioritize your features?

Once you have defined your value proposition, you need to decide what features are essential to deliver it, and what features are nice-to-have or can be added later. A common mistake is to include too many features in your MVP, which can increase the complexity, cost, and risk of your development. To prioritize your features, you can use frameworks like the MoSCoW method, the Kano model, or the RICE score. These frameworks help you to rank your features based on their importance, satisfaction, reach, impact, confidence, and effort.

4 How to choose your technology stack?

Your technology stack is the combination of tools, languages, frameworks, and platforms that you use to build your product. Choosing your technology stack depends on several factors, such as your product requirements, your budget, your timeline, your team skills, your scalability, and your security. You should choose a technology stack that suits your MVP goals, not your personal preferences or the latest trends. You should also consider using existing solutions, such as no-code or low-code platforms, APIs, or third-party services, that can speed up your development and reduce your technical debt.

5 How to measure your results?

Building an MVP is not enough. You also need to measure how your product performs, how your users behave, and how your assumptions are validated or invalidated. You need to define the key metrics that reflect your value proposition, your user satisfaction, and your business objectives. These metrics can be quantitative, such as user acquisition, retention, engagement, revenue, or conversion, or qualitative, such as user feedback, reviews, testimonials, or referrals. You should use tools like analytics, surveys, interviews, or experiments to collect and analyze your data.

6 How to iterate based on feedback?

The final step of your MVP development is to iterate based on the feedback and data that you gather from your users and your metrics. You should not be attached to your initial idea, but be ready to pivot, adapt, or improve your product based on what you learn. You should also prioritize the most critical and valuable feedback, and avoid the noise and bias that can distract you from your vision. You should use tools like the build-measure-learn loop, the lean canvas, or the feedback grid to structure your iteration process and validate your next steps.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?