5 Crucial Steps to Follow When Building Your Next MVP

Eric Ries, who introduced the concept of the minimum viable product (MVP) as part of his Lean Startup methodology, describes the purpose of an MVP this way:

It is the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least amount of effort.

MVP is a well-known term in any tech company these days. Entrepreneurs and Product Managers are building and planning MVPs on a daily basis. Since there is no 1 recipe for building successful MVP, many times I see "MVPs" that are missing the point: They are not collecting the right data and they are not lean at all. The result is valuable time being wasted and no clear answer whether we should continue building or kill it.

MVPs are a crucial tool for building successful products and companies. When done right, it can dramatically increase the chances of success.

What is considered a successful MVP?

Say you built an MVP and you are about to launch it. You also have a clear KPI for “what will be considered as a success. Let’s say your MVP KPI is activation = New Trial Sign-Ups. Say 500. You’ve set a time to make a decision whether to continue or stop. That day has come and you have 223 New Trial Sign-Ups. Do you consider this MVP a success or not?

Well, obviously this MVP did not achieve the KPI and did not go they wanted it to, BUT it helped you understand that this is not the way to go, saved you a lot of time and efforts building the wrong things! "Failed" MVPs are as good as "Successful" MVPs!

What is the true goal of an MVP?

Think about it, when launching new products or features, we want people to:

1. Hear about it
2. See the value in it
3. Want to use it
4. Want to pay for it

That makes sense right? When I want to launch a new product, no matter if I am going to design an MVP or not, in order for it to succeed I need people to hear about it (through ads, for example), I want people to see value in my product, I want them to show interest in using it (click 'Sign Up' in my website), and lastly, show their interest in paying (“Proceed to checkout” ).

Remember that an MVP can test a lot of things, starting from retention metrics to direct user purchases. We need to remember that we need to put our focus on the company goals and KPIs, and let that lead us in experimenting with our MVPs.

Therefore, the true goal of an MVP is to show business revenue potential or sell already. 

What can you do to increase your chances of designing a successful MVP?

First, I highly recommend you answer the following questions. Answering these questions will help you design highly effective MVPs that achieve their goal fast.

1. What do you want to test (your hypothesis)?
2. Think about what you really want to test. Set a detailed experiment hypothesis. This will guide your design and will help you build the leanest possible MVP. During the design process, always come back to your hypothesis to make sure you are not overloading your MVP with unnecessary features. Use templates such as this to frame your hypothesis: “We believe that [this functionality] will result in [this outcome]. We will know to proceed when we see [a measurable KPI].”
3. Do you really need to build a product/feature to test this product/feature?
4. The real success in developing MVPs is NOT developing MVPs and collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers without actually developing anything. Test yourself to the limit and see how you can test your product without building it.
5. What will be considered a success (KPI)?
6. If you won't define success, how will you know if you succeeded? Your success metric must be measurable, attainable, and relevant. For example at least 5% conversion rate between website view to start a free trial.
7. How will you measure it?
8. Measure your MVP KPI in order to get accurate validation when the time comes. Select the right tool for the job. It can be analytic tools like Mixpanel and Google Analytics or other forms of tracking such as questionnaires. 
9. When will we decide whether to 'Keep it' or 'Kill it'?
10. Time-bound your MVP. The goal here is to think about the shortest timeframe you need in order to make a decision. 

Key Takeaways

1. "Failed" MVPs are good as "Successful" MVPs
2. The true goal of an MVP is to show business value by getting people to hear about it, see value in it, use it and show interest in paying for it.
3. Don't start designing your MVP before you've set your experiment hypothesis, success KPI, how you are going to measure it, and the timeframe for your experiment.
4. The most successful MVPs are those who do not require any development and still provide the maximum amount of validated learning you need to decide whether to Keep it or Kill it.

What's your take about successful MVPs? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Originally published at https://prodacttips.wordpress.com on February 5, 2020.