Article
The idea of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has been around for years. The idea is fairly simple, start by building the bare minimum that fulfills a need for your users. The problem is that most companies forget about last part and only focus on the functions. Enter the MLP.
frog design replace their logo with 50 new ones to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Does it show off their creativity culture or is the lack of design qualityi diluting their brand?
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 Bloated products were (and still are) being shipped years after the plan was set, with the end result of an outdated product with little value.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 If you work in this way your product will be outdated and/or released after potential competitors products.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).
Building an MVP (the lower example) will let you get the product to the users quicker for feeback. For a product to actually be viable, it needs to be usable!
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.
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.
One of the common reason MVP projects in large organizations fail is that the organzation isn't ready for a new way of working. Not only do they forget to involve/focus on the users, but the MVP can't be done because it is being built in a waterfall organization. Because of this you need a clear enforcement from the top. Then you start building it from the bottom up. Involving people from different parts of the organization to ensure buy-in.
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!
If you look at image to the right you see the common mistake companies do when building an MVP. They try to fit in as many functionalities as possible and ignore the usability and the differentiation. MLP to the right.
Johan Heikensten, Design Director & Strategy Consultant from Sweden
Johan Heikensten,
Design Lead & Strategy Consultant from Sweden
Johan Heikensten, Design Lead & Strategy Consultant from Sweden
©2019 ymer design
©2019 ymer design
©2019 ymer design