The MVP isn't dead, you're just doing it wrong

Part of the reason the lean startup movement took off was the frustration with how things were working. Bloated products were (and still are) being shipped years after the plan was set, with the end result of an outdated product with little value.

The most commonly used imagery to explain the process is illustrated in the image bellow. Your users need to be able to move from point A to point B. Perfect! How? First a wheel, then another, then another, then the engine, etc. Of course this process works, but the users would gain more from you doing iterative improvements and releases. Even if they want a car, a bike will still take them from A to B. You learn and they get some value quicker.

The reason this approach started growing is because the classic waterfall process of working on requirements and dependencies just doesn’t cut it anymore. If you work in this way your product will be outdated and/or released after potential competitors products. It's easy to think that won't happen to us, we have no competitors doing the same thing (just like the big banks slowly losing market space to Fin-tech to give one example).

If the MVP has been around for years and it’s a better approach, why aren’t everyone doing it?

I’ve mainly experienced two  reasons for MVPs not being adopted by the larger organizations.

The intentions of the MVP is great, but more often than not companies and organizations takes the name Minimum Viable Product to literally and don’t understand why their users don't like it. They build a quick functional product, but forget that it's supposed to fulfill a need, actually be usable.

• Don’t focus only on the functionalities. The MVP needs to fulfill the users needs. I already wrote it above, but I don’t know how many times I’ve seen organizations try to create an MVP with a waterfall approach, not delivering a usable product (see the picture above).
  
  
• The power of design. You won’t be able to evaluate your MVP if it's designed poorly. A bad experience that the users don’t understand (see the picture below) will make any MVP fail. This is the reason why consulting firms like McKinsey BCG, Capgemini etc. desperately try to buy whatever design agency they can get their hands on. Using design will help you focus your MVP on what's important for it to actually fly, the users.
  

If your organization has worked in the same way forever it’s really hard to change the direction. The two main issue here tends to be internal buy-in and a set way of working where changes are prohibited by the corporate structure.

If you are a small company or a start-up this probably isn’t a problem, but the only way I’ve seen large organizations manage to change the way they work on a larger scale is through a very clear plan.

• First of all you need the willingness from the top. C-level must be onboard and willing to push for the change. If you don't have this your MVP will run up against walls of dependencies.
  
  
• Create a light-house project, be sure to create a high value MVP with a great team to ensure that people see the value of this new way of working. Show the reason to believe through action.
  
  
• Then it’s a matter of working from the inside out. Eg. If it’s an internal product, focus on the users and everyone that will be affected or gain from the success of the product. If it's a customer product, focus on the customers and the customer facing users.
  

For an MVP to actually be Viable it needs to have the functionality and reliability for the users to gain value and answer their needs. And this is what most companies focus on when it comes to an MVP. But as I mentioned above it also needs to be usable, if no it will be a dead fish in the water. If you can include a bit of delight as well  you'll drive differentiation of your product.

Too many companies still forget the end users and skimp on the design. To invest in a great experience doesn’t only help validate your product, every interaction with your potential users is also an opportunity to make an impression on them. It’s a chance for them to engage and for you to start building your tribe.

You will get ambassadors for the product without marketing!