MVP is an abbreviation for the minimum viable product. It is a commonly used term in the IT industry for a working product with minimum functionality. The list of functionalities should be sufficient to test the profitability and sense of a given project. Does the use of MVP make sense in all cases? What are the advantages and disadvantages of MVP?
The implementation of a perfectly designed application almost always requires a long list of functionalities. For all functionalities to work properly, a long and tedious work of developers is needed. Thanks to the use of MVP, you can save a long and costly work of developers. It is enough to simply execute the application in the basic version. Entering the market with an unfinished product allows you to check in practice how the market adopts an idea of your application.
Therefore, it can be said that MVP is an innovative business concept that is based on the verification of an established hypothesis. This is something that goes a step further from business analysis, because thanks to MVP you can test the idea for an application in practice, at the same time without incurring unjustified costs. Thanks to the MVP, you can check whether the business idea is realistic, profitable, and in simple words – whether there is a need for a given product. When it turns out that the market has received our application well, it means that you can develop other functionalities. However, when it turns out that the idea for the application did not work, the advantage is that the investment in the unsuccessful project was not as big as it could be.
To sum up, thanks to the use of MVP, it is possible to check that market wants to use the made product or not. Of course, MVP is an approach that is especially characteristic of startups. However, it is worth noting that this is an extremely popular method. Therefore, even very experienced software houses use it willingly.
Why Use MVP?
First and foremost, thanks to the MVP, we have the opportunity to test the hypothesis as to whether our product is what the market needs.
Secondly, you can quickly deliver the product to the first customers and build the foundations of a new brand. From the investor’s point of view, this is significantly more convenient than waiting for the finished product many months or even years.
Third, investment costs are lower as the time devoted by developers is minimized.
Why is it not worth using the MVP?
Where there are advantages, there must also be disadvantages, so it is worth considering why the MVP concept should not be used.
The main disadvantage is quite obvious – launching an unfinished product on the market exposes us to the fact that we may lose in the eyes of customers. It is simply a product that may not meet certain requirements and thus may be less well received by potential customers than we would like. This can lead to a newly created brand having a poor reputation right from the start.
In addition, there is a risk that our competition will see our idea and make a given application in a better and more complete way. We put a good idea for the application on the market, but we do not make it properly and we run the risk of plagiarism. As you know, it is always easier to enter the market with a good product than with something that is infinite and can inspire your competition.
Most common mistakes
As you can see, the concept of MVP is associated with certain dangers and obvious disadvantages. Therefore, it is worth remembering a few tips to avoid mistakes made by many startups. Below, we present 5 most common mistakes during development.
1) It is not worth approaching the creation of an MVP with too much perfectionism. If you want to offer too good a product from the very beginning, you can quickly burn the budget for development and marketing. In the initial phase of product development, it is rather unnecessary.
2) Think carefully about the priority functions in your application. It is not a good idea to plan too many features. Proper prioritization can save your budget.
3) It is not worth spending too much time on efficiency and optimal use of technological solutions. The development of the MVP should not take more than 3 months. If you spend too much time on the technical side, it will be very difficult to stay on time and on budget.
4) In the initial stage of development, it is not worth using too large team of programmers. The group of experts should be limited to those who are most needed. Only, if this is necessary, use additional employees.
5) In the initial phase of the project, feedback is very important, but you should be careful in this aspect. Too much opinion can distort the project and make the budget burn out by making it continuous changes.
