How to Make a Minimum Viable Product

Do you have an idea that can offer a solution to a problem or a set of problems? Do you want to develop software that caters the users’ needs effectively and effortlessly? It is not as easy as it seems. It is a process that requires thorough research, a carefully created plan and proper utilization of resources to build software.

What Is MVP And Why Do You Need To Build It?

It is not wise to build software before testing its feasibility. For startups, it could turn out to be a risky measure and sometimes, disaster as you have to allocate the entire fund you have.

Minimum Viable Product is the product that caters the main core service that you want to offer to your audience. Once MVP is ready, you can check out the response of the audience and the idea’s feasibility. Once it is successful, you can add more features to the MVP and make it a full-fledged end product.

Let’s Discuss How to Build MVP

Define the Purpose First

Anything without the purpose is meaningless, so is your MVP idea. Before you start actually working on it, you need to ensure that the idea has some potential to address some problems and concerns. Ask whether the idea has the potential or not. It will define the purpose of MVP.

Find out whether a particular problem can be solved with the idea that you have. How does it solve the problem? What are the features that you will need to build the MVP? Can MVP, once build, offer a solution to the users?

To build MVP, it is crucial to have a core purpose to develop certain features. Hence, ensure that you have one to develop a roadmap for the MVP.

Find a Solution to the Problem

You have a problem that you want to address. Now the time is to find a solution to it. A unique solution that is the most appropriate one and solves the problem completely by eliminating the hassles and hindrances people usually face. Find a solution that no other company is offering.

Competitor Analysis

There will be competitors out there offering the same solutions for the problem. Being an entrepreneur, it is highly recommended that you go for a thorough competitor analysis. It will help you to add or remove certain features and also give you a blueprint of the product you want to develop. In addition to that, a detailed competitor analysis will help you to check whether the product you want to develop is feasible or not. There are many competitor analysis tools available in the market that you can use to check their monthly traffic, website or app rankings, users’ geographical locations, and other vital details.

Also, you can read out feedback and reviews of your competitors to analyze the loopholes they have in their products. You can develop your MVP accordingly.

Determine the User Flow

The next step is to determine the user flow. Remember you are making the MVP to address a particular objective. You need to concentrate to that only for now to give a handy, highly-functional and superior product to the end users. Don’t forget the primary goal you want to accomplish and define the user flow accordingly.

Prioritize Features You Want to Cover

It is of utmost importance that you build only those features that are required to serve the core purpose of software or an app. You don’t need to develop all the features in the MVP. It is simply not required as it will take the budget to the next level. Spend some time to separate the features that are needed and not needed.

Here, You Can Differentiate All the Features in Four Segments

Must-Have Features

Figure out features that require performing the main function of the app. If these features are not included, the MVP cannot function and solve the core objective.

Should-Have Features

These features are required to perform certain actions, but if you don’t include them in the initial MVP, it does not affect the overall performance of the product. In short, these features can wait.

Could-Have Features

These features can improve the efficiency of the product to a great extent and streamline the processes. However, you want to check the reviews of the users before adding them.

Won’t-Have Features

There are some features that don’t hold the value. You just simply need to single out them.

Ensure that each feature runs through these categories to add useful features and remove features that are not required for an MVP.

Read Also: 5 Magic Factors That Make Your Mobile App a Grand Success

Develop, Test and Run

Now, it is the time for the development stage where the developers will develop the product keeping in the mind the core features that are to be added in it. Once the product is developed, the quality assurance testers will test the product to ensure that there are no technical errors and bugs in the final product.

Once the product is tested thoroughly, you can release it in the known groups such as communities, friend circles and take their opinions and recommendations for improvements. It is called Alpha testing. The next stage is a BETA stage where the product will be released in the real world for real users- your target audience. Once it is released, you will start getting real feedback from the users. Ensure that you implement those changes immediately to the next updated versions to keep the product going.

How to Measure the Success of the MVP

It is very imperative that you know whether the product you have developed is appreciated or not. In simple words, whether it is a success or you have developed something that is not valuable among the audience. How to measure success?

Start Communication with Your Customers

This is the first thing you need to start just after the release of the product. Start communicating with potential customers through various marketing models such as advertising, trade-shows, digital promotions, and other popular models. Ask people to use it and give their feedback. Ask whether the product is helping them to address the issue or not.

User Experience

In today’s era, customers always look for superior user experience and if you fail to offer it, they might not return to you again. Ask users how the experience was using the product. Is a product user-friendly? Make necessary changes as per the customers’ feedbacks in the UX to make it more superior, impressive and efficient.

Download Numbers

If you have developed a mobile app MVP, the number of downloads matter. It is a clear sign whether the product is popular or not. Check out the download metrics to judge the hype the product is creating among the people.

Active User Percentage

If you use a smartphone, you must know that you don’t use all of the apps you have downloaded. The number of apps you use on a regular basis is very few. In a similar manner, if you have 2000 users who have downloaded your app, not all of them are using it. Check out the active users who use it regularly. You might address some issues in the product to retain passive users.

Free Users and Paid Users

If you are offering paid services, you need to know how many customers are actually using these features. In simple words, how many customers have subscribed for paid services? If the number is low, you need to study the behavior patterns of the customers and how to lure them to subscribe to paid services.

Read Also: High Mobile App Churn Rate & Tips to Reduce It Effectively

Conclusion

Before going for a full-grown product, it is always feasible to build an MVP to test the potential of the product. It saves cost and time and gives you a clear picture of the product that you want to build. Most of the entrepreneurs, nowadays, develop an MVP to have a realistic approach to the idea. Once you have measured all the aspects of the MVP, you can ask developers to start building a full-fledged product.