Imagine building a product for a year.
Then customers don’t buy it when it launches.
Why?
The product doesn’t meet the customer’s needs or solve their problem.
Despite the time, resources, effort spent…
How do product managers avoid this?
By creating a minimum viable product (MVP).
An MVP has just enough features to be usable by customers who provide feedback for future product development.
It helps establish product-market fit quickly.
Here are some benefits of an MVP:
✅️ Maximizes validated learning about the customer’s needs
✅️ Minimizes the time, resources and effort expended
Example: The customer needs a solution to go hiking every weekend.
Start small with a viable solution.
Minimal features, yet it solves the customer’s needs.
Sandals can be an MVP.
Then the next release can be hiking sandals, followed by hiking shoes, then hiking boots.
With each prototype delivered in each stage, product managers learn which features the customer finds valuable.
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How have you used an MVP and what did you learn? Let me know in the comments.
Dasanj Aberdeen is an entrepreneurial spirit who embodies the combination of left-brain logic and right-brain creativity. She is a consultant and proponent of multidisciplinary education, approaches and pursuits. She writes about their benefits in modern times and integrating multiple interests into a sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle. She’s a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University with a concentration in Technology & Innovation Management, jointly delivered by the Fox School of Business and College of Engineering.
