MVP Development: The Essence of the Concept and Development Stages

A minimum viable product (MVP) is needed to determine consumer preferences without significant investment in development. In practice, the production process of creating an IT solution is accompanied by a number of expensive stages: programming, testing, design development, user interface fragments, official release, and subsequent technical support.

In the conditions of modern market realities, it is very risky to get involved in expensive ventures, since consumer niches are replenished very quickly and, perhaps, someone has already implemented your idea.

MVP. In some cases, the practice of “reconnaissance in combat” is so successful that a test prototype is quickly put into production. Often, even a product with only one function can get in the eye of a potential investor and gain approval from influential customers.

Risk minimization is always an attractive initiative. MVP allows you to save money and, most importantly, reduce dependence on factors with unpredictable components. Minimum viable products are not only relevant for projects with a limited budget, this is a great opportunity for offline businesses to test the market reaction to new services. After positive trials, the entrepreneur can launch the full version of the landing page or scale up the finished solution. Go now!

Also read: How to Convert Your Idea Into A Product (and Launch It!)

Marking MVP

In the segment of MVP varieties, there are various variations of the first “conditionally public” version of the product with versatile approaches to implementation. Of the numerous list of varieties, the practice of The Wizard of Oz has the greatest relevance.

Associations with fairy tale motifs are arranged according to some similarities in the methodology: in the presentation of the product, the mechanisms of the solution are imitated in order to determine the relevance of the proposed product. For example, developers are testing a currency growth forecasting service based on artificial intelligence technology, but in fact, they perform calculations manually. Thus, the customer can determine the relevance of the service without investing in real development.

Regardless of the chosen model of the minimum viable product, several stages will be required to develop it.

Also read: 7 Ways to Reduce Software Development Costs

Stages of building an MVP

A service must start with an idea. The difference between a successful solution and a typical one is that the product in demand is the result of an original idea, transformed through detailed development:

• The first thing to determine is the purpose of the product. It should be noted that the consumer is ready to pay for the services of the service if the service allows solving a real need.
• Focus on the target audience. Focusing on a broad target audience is a common mistake young startups make. Clear positioning for specific consumers will increase the chances of success and eliminate unnecessary risks.
• Analysis of the competitive environment. Today, consumer niches are very quickly occupied, and often developers are faced with a situation where someone else has already implemented their solution.
• SWOT analysis. An effective tool for consolidating the strengths and weaknesses of the project. This concept is applied at the stage of strategic planning. Along with this, it is quite logical and appropriate to use this structure in the ranking of the MVP metric.
• Funnel of user paths. User flow – the user’s route when interacting with the presented solution. User routing allows you to correctly build the content of the product and create convenient navigation.
• List of functions with prioritization. The essence of the work is to select useful features from the point of view of real users. Priority on proven functionality allows you to use customer recommendations and not lose sight of the full range of possible solutions.
• Product management development and testing. Even with a single function IT solution, initial testing is required. In the management segment, there are a number of practices that can be applied in various niche areas.

Developers often refer to how to build mvp in banking industry as a “safety cushion” before a capital investment. The technique allows you to rely on a number of proven facts, and not the assumptions of marketers, which quite often differ from the real situation on the market.