How good does your MVP need to be?

How good does your MVP need to be?

Not very, to be honest!
The perfectionists amongst us will be fidgeting at this, but a successful MVP needs to be:
1.      Small
2.      Fast
3.      Cheap

Speed and efficiency is essential at this early stage.

A good MVP will satisfy early-stage decisions.

You can test an idea with real users before committing to a large budget.

You can demo something tangible that goes far beyond a pitch deck.

It is there to gauge how viable it will be when it is scaled to a full model.

Our approach to MVPs follows Gall’s law which reminds us that:

If you want to build a complex system that works, build a simpler system first, and then improve it over time…you will never be able to anticipate all of these interdependencies and variables in advance, so a complex system built from scratch will continually fail in all sorts of unexpected ways

And most importantly, if you don’t put a limit on your time, features and expectations, it will never be finished. Instead you be left with technical debt, a growing ‘to do list’ and people waiting to see/test/invest in something that is spinning largely out of control.

Don’t be tempted to keep adding more features. Be strict with yourself and know that it’s a journey.

Want to know how to define your MVP? We offer a free ‘finding out call’ to help you onto that first step Bookings with me – Louise Crane – Outlook (office.com)