How to Protect Your MVP
The purpose of this article is to help my fellow product pros manage the delivery of a new product MVP
How do we protect our MVP? Not with a left tackle. This is not protecting our Most Valuable Player from a linebacker, but how do we protect our application MVP from some of our stakeholders
MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. It is a product that has just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development. The focus of an MVP is on validating an idea or product, rather than building a complete solution. An MVP is typically the smallest set of features needed to demonstrate value to a customer.
An MVP should be a very stripped down version of your ultimate vision. It should have the necessary functionality to solve a user’s problems but should not need all the bells and whistles of the final product.
However, far too often product organizations fall victim to scope creep. Executives, marketers and even our UX designers can bloat our MVP with features and experiences that are not necessary to create a viable product. The following are some of the basic steps and pitfalls to creating, protecting and delivering a successful MVP
Define your MVP
Before you start building anything, it's essential to define what features you NEED to include in your MVP. Your MVP should have a basic set of features that solves a specific problem or satisfies a need for your target audience. Be sure to communicate this MVP feature set with all of your stakeholders and get their sing on. Make sure to focus on the most critical features that align with your value proposition. This should guide your design
Define a clear scope: Define the scope of the MVP before starting the development process. Make sure everyone involved in the project understands what the MVP includes and what it does not include. Communicate the project scope clearly to your team and stakeholders to prevent any misunderstandings
Design process
Once you've defined your MVP, it's time to design it. A good design is essential to a mobile application's success, so make sure to allocate enough time to create a user-friendly interface. Remember that the UX should simply be user-friendly and intuitive, it does not need to be absolutely breath-taking (yet). It is very often that marketing or upper management will begin to beat up a design if it is not sleek or innovative. Establish what is absolutely necessary early and often. If it is not in your definition, it should not be in your design.
Prioritize features: Define a prioritization process that outlines what features are necessary for the MVP and what features can be added later. Focus on the core features that are critical to solving the user's problem and avoid features that are nice-to-have or not essential for the MVP
Development
After you've designed your MVP, it's time to start building it. As you develop your MVP, keep in mind that you want to validate your idea with the smallest investment possible. This means avoiding features that require a lot of time and resources to implement. Although we want to remain agile, we do not want to bloat scope to adjust to the changing market. Keep your business initiatives in mind, if they are at risk then you can make adjustments, if not stay the course
Establish a change management process: Establish a formal process for managing changes to the MVP. Require that all changes go through a review process that includes a thorough analysis of the impact on the project timeline, budget, and overall scope. Only make changes if they align with the overall project objectives.
Launch your MVP
Once you're confident that your MVP meets your target audience's needs, it's time to launch it. Launching your MVP is an exciting moment, but it's important to manage your expectations. Your MVP may not be perfect, but that's okay. The purpose of an MVP is to validate your idea and gather feedback to improve it. Manage the expectations of all of your stakeholders, this is just proof that there is a market for your product
Gather feedback and iterate rapidly
After you've launched your MVP, it's essential to gather feedback from your users. Use their feedback to improve your MVP and prioritize features that align with your value proposition.
Keep communication channels open: Encourage open communication channels between the development team and stakeholders. Encourage the team to report any potential scope creep to the product owner. Encourage team members to flag any potential scope creep during daily stand-ups and retrospectives.
By following these strategies, you can prevent scope creep and ensure that the MVP development process stays on track. It's important to stay flexible and open to change, but always be mindful of the overall project scope and budget.
