What are the most effective ways to use a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for prioritizing product features?

In services industry i.e.training industry, sometimes I needed to pilot the program that was tailor-made ordered from a customer. Only after a pilot group of training participants was happy with the minimum of features required, only then we built up the product, in this case a training program to its full length and extent. Usually, the pilot group consisted of most demanding participants so it felt like walking on knife blade. But it was challenging and rewarding. I learned a lot about the MVP and its further building live, not in a lab. And no money can pay this experience. I warmly recommend this way of learning how to achieve product excellence.

MVP is a product with "just enough" features to satisfy the early users/customers and provide feedback for future product development. It helps us to get an early data that confirms users interest into the product. Positive results at the MVP phase gives us a green light to develop the full version. It helps to save the time and resources by making sure that we're investing in product that is likely to be successful.

A Key Takeaway to Remember is that an MVP is not just a product with minimal features; it's a strategic tool designed to validate assumptions and gather valuable user feedback. In a recent engagement, a startup aimed to revolutionize the e-learning space. By emphasizing the true essence of an MVP, we focused on core features essential for user interaction, disregarding non-essential elements. This approach allowed us to swiftly launch a functional product, observe user behavior, and iteratively enhance features based on real-world usage.

To prioritize product features for your MVP, follow these steps: 1. Set goals: Clearly define your objectives and the value you want to deliver. 2. Identify core features: what are the basic functionalities required for the MVP to be viable. 3. Conduct user research: Gather feedback to understand user needs and preferences. 4. Data-driven decisions: Analyze user interactions and feedback to prioritize features with the highest impact. 5. Apply the MoSCoW method: Categorize features into must-have, should-have, could-have, and won't-have. 6. Consider technical feasibility: Assess the resources required to build each feature. Once you have launched the MVP, monitor user interactions, and collect feedback for future iterations.

A MVP is a product of 2 things: 1. Over estimating your capabilities to deliver requirements in a set period. 2. Over estimating your capability to develop and configure requirements and resolve potential issues. The most effective ways to use MVP is to constantly reality check: - what can be done within the time and budget - what the system can do - your skills - clients immediate needs MVP should be used as last resort. If enough time and skill is included in planing, we wouldn’t rely on MVP.

An Often Overlooked Aspect is that utilizing an MVP for feature prioritization not only streamlines development but also serves as a compass, ensuring alignment with customer needs and preventing the pitfalls of feature bloat. In a recent engagement, a startup aimed to launch a productivity app. By employing an MVP, we narrowed down features to the essentials, avoiding unnecessary complexity. This approach facilitated quicker market entry, minimized resource allocation on non-essential elements, and allowed for real-time adjustments based on user feedback.

Scope creep is a real thing! Especially in trying to satisfy the hypothetical possibilities, if you knew you could nail one feature better then anyone else ever has, wouldn't you shoot for that?

Building an MVP allows you to test out an idea in a Lean-agile approach. What that means is that if you build a product and user feedback states no value you can bin and start again. MVP builds are typically very basic so initial investment is low depending on your capability of building in-house. If it’s an internal product then you can pivot away relatively easy. If you are building a product for a client, it is the most valuable way of being able to pivot the product to differing client needs. Using an agile delivery method such as Scrum will allow you to build on your MVP in iterations, working extremely closely with the client through the whole development. That reduces the risk of product failure.

In my opinion, the GTM approach of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is losing traction. I dare say that today’s markets demand Minimum "Wow" Products (MWP). This doesn’t imply product complexity but rather an impactful first impression and customer delight from the get go. You can with calculating the Customer Value Equation within your identified niche customer segment. Think: What exactly Wows them with the least amount of resources? An MWP example would be Apple’s first iPhone; it wasn't just a phone but a status symbol and a design marvel that reshaped the industry!!!

Does it delight the user with a simpler solution than they were using? You can stop there with your MVP before solving all those nice to have features that sound great!

MVPs crystallize vision into validation through ruthless prioritization and rapid experimentation. They turn dreams into data.

Meet them where they are at- you know it's the best thing ever and you've made it shiny to attract everyone just like the influencers and experts told you too; but maybe your shine is blinding to some, too far for others to discover or they dont care about shiny objects anymore and they aren't going to take the effort to explore. But when you come to them and speak their language on what problems you help solve? Now you can engage in a feedback loop and measure the iterations you make. Those are two very different conversations!

The question now is when does the feedback loop begin if your building inside OpenAI? With the new capabilities released today, you now have a infinite feedback loop through AI and the development platform in one place. When your MVP can be automatically tested and improved it makes the fail fast timeframe move up the priority list even higher!

Regarding OP’s question about “effective ways to use your MVP for prioritizing product features: base it on business goals. Because then the development of your MVP is not feature-driven, with potential feature creep, but goal-oriented. An early adopter (EA) is someone who has a business case for your MVP they want to solve today – and are willing to pay for it, today. Therefore, features should be prioritized based on their potential to meet business goals, such as increasing revenue, reducing costs, or improving customer satisfaction, reducing $customerNeedsStatement etc. By aligning feature development with these objectives, you ensure that the MVP evolves in a direction that meets users' needs and their jobs-to-be-done.

To Shed More Light on the Subject, Consider that scaling and growing an MVP involves a dynamic process of experimentation, learning, and strategic decision-making. In a recent startup endeavor, we applied Lean Startup principles to scale an MVP successfully. Through iterative experimentation with additional features and market segments, we gained valuable insights into customer preferences. This method allowed us to pivot swiftly when certain features didn't resonate, ensuring resource optimization and alignment with evolving market demands.

Adopt these strategies to scale your MVP while prioritizing features that resonate with your target audience and align with market dynamics. - Gather customer feedback to guide feature prioritization. Their feedback is invaluable in shaping your MVP's development to align with their needs. - Conduct thorough market research to identify changing trends and competitor activities. - Plan for scalability to support growth. Ensure that your infrastructure, technology, and team can support increased demand. - Allocate marketing resources to effectively reach a broader audience. This approach allows for flexibility in adapting to changing customer needs and maintains your product's relevance in the long-term.

MVPs pave the path to scale through relentless experimentation, decisive pivots, and laser focus on what delivers value. They turn minimum into maximum.

We must all look back to 2013 when Brian, co-founder and CEO of Aha!, first coined the concept of the MLP (Minimum Loveable Product). It's important to remember that being viable is no longer sufficient; the client should be able to adore the product, especially 10 years later, when AI, remote work, and global talent have made product development easier and faster. While keeping in mind that a digitized product experience should exceed the analog one, as I shared with one of my product executive mentees, product development revolves around gathering the right amount of customer feedback and combining it with relevant market research. These components should be integrated into a pre-determined, measurable chart of prioritization criteria.