Software development is a rather complicated process, which must, first of all, consider a potential client’s needs. Practice shows that the opinion of experts often differs from the opinion of real users, so many developers are looking for a real opportunity to understand what customers need. MVP, in this case, becomes the ideal solution. With this, you can understand your product’s relevance and usefulness, whether users like it and how it can be improved.
What is MVP?
MVP is an acronym that stands for Minimum Viable Product. When developing software, experts advise creating an application that will perform all the main functions of your product but, simultaneously, has a less beautiful interface. You can put it on the market to see how users react. Don’t expect to receive only positive feedback. However, if you can analyze all user comments, you can quickly improve the product and release an enhanced paid version.
Building an MVP also makes finding investors as easy as possible. No matter how good your circuit board business is, people in business invest more effectively in projects that are well visualized. If an investor can try out your product, they are much more likely to invest. Creating an MVP is not just a visualization of an idea, but also its validation, test sale and the minimally functional product that you can present to potential investors. The approach to MVP development is different from the usual software design, and if you want to know more then click to read about MVP development.
Why is MVP popular?
The popularity of MVP is growing at a tremendous rate. It is because this technology has managed to prove its effectiveness. The problem is that not everyone understands why this is necessary and how to use it correctly.
There are two main dangers for an aspiring entrepreneur:
- Building an MVP in a form that is unnecessarily complex and expensive.
- The belief that one “MVP fits all” or that an MVP is always needed.
MVP is an experiment that must be developed purposefully and well thought out at its core.
MVP Methodology
In the last year, interest in MVP has increased many times over. It leads to the fact that more and more researchers and scientists are starting to work on this issue. So, the minimum viable product can:
- Help potential users understand what the final product will look like. There is a saying, “It is better to see once than hear 100 times”. No matter how well you advertise your product or how bright your presentation is, users will be more willing to buy a program they have already used.
- Assess genuine interest in your product. So, even if your product is not yet ready for release, you can try to sell it. You can count the number of clicks on the “buy” or “download” button. Thus, you can visually assess how well your business plan is designed.
- Give users a free trial of your product in exchange for a review. Here it is necessary to consider the study itself, which the user will leave, and the time the person spent using it.
- Test the ability of the team to work and the entrepreneur’s ability to bring the best people into the business.
Before starting software development, entrepreneurs create various hypotheses. The main goal of the MVP is to confirm or refute them.
The average cost of website development for MVP products depends on what functions it should perform and can be between $3000 and $15000. Thanks to the MVP, you will be able to understand which of them are essential and which ones can be abandoned.
Manifestations of the MVP
Experiments allow you to understand how viable your business concept is. They are of different types:
- prototypes,
- valorization,
- pilot projects,
- test sites,
- concierge service,
- demo and dummy landing pages.
The above tests are different types of MVPs needed to understand your project’s viability.
If you wish, you can choose the best software outsourcing models that will allow you to test your hypotheses in the best possible way.
When is it effective?
Practice shows that it does not matter what kind of software you create (a multifunctional website, a mobile application, or tools for narrow specialists); MVP will become a helpful assistant for you.
With this, you can predict the behavior of potential customers and investors based on actual numbers and research, and not just your desires or guesses. It is crucial to assess the possible risks here. Typically, MVPs are created when user behavior is fundamental to the growth of your business.
However, there are a few times when you can get by without an MVP. So, for example, if you know that your main competitor is planning to release a similar product shortly and will win the race, the one who finishes the work earlier, then you can refuse to create a prototype. That is why, before you start doing a project, you must carefully study the market and understand which programs are already on the market and which are soon announced for release.
