The MVP Approach: Get the Maximum with the Minimum

It all started in 1999 when a young guy, Nick Swinmurn, was unable to find a particular pair of shoes. Frustrated by the fact, he came up with the idea of selling shoes online.  

That’s how Zappos started.  

Swinmurn launched Zappos – a shoe store with no shoes. Instead of spending a large chunk of money on inventory upfront and expensive market research, he simply headed out to a local shoe store with a camera in his hands. He photographed shoes and posted them for sale on his website. When a customer placed an order, he would head back to the store to purchase the shoes. Zappos would then send the shoes to the customer. 

Although it wasn’t a viable way to run a business in the long term, the strategy worked perfectly to test the business idea. In 2009, after an unsuccessful attempt to launch a competitive product, Amazon purchased Zappos for $1.2 billion.  

The approach Zappos adopted early on is called the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) development today.  

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is functional enough to satisfy early adopters and validates a product idea in its early development stage.  

A company that follows an MVP approach launches a ready product, collects as much feedback, iterates on the working version and continuously introduces relevant new features.  

In this article we have created a step-by-step guide on how to build an MVP-   

1. Conduct Market Research 

Before embarking on building an MVP, you need to ensure that your business idea fulfils the user needs. According to 2018 research conducted by ChromeInfotech, 72% of new mobile app-based products fail to meet expectations due to inadequate market research. 

On the other hand, companies that conduct market research using tools and surveys understand user expectations, are aware of market competition, and know how to stand out among their competitors.   

2. MVP Prototyping 

You may be wondering, why do you need both a prototype and a software MVP. Prototyping is an early attempt to visualize a working solution. On the other hand, an MVP is the product with enough features that perform target actions. A prototype looks at design and functionality, validates UI and UX, and provides early feedback on improvements to implement in the MVP.  

3. Map User Flow 

User flow is how users navigate your app from the moment they install it to the final step of making a purchase. A perfectly designed user flow places the user at the heart of the design process and hence guarantees excellent user experience.  

4. Launch and Iterate Constantly 

At this step you are all set to launch. You might assume that the steps end here, but they don’t. The research phase doesn’t end with the launch. The MVP approach promotes continuous iteration - you launch, you learn, you tweak, you release, you repeat.  

Users at this point will test your app and you’ll learn ‘what do they like the most?’, ‘is there any unnecessary feature?’, and ‘what’s missing?’  

Overall, the MVP approach is an effective way to test the ideas feasibility fulfills in the real world without committing resources to building the complete product.  

Hashbrown Systems, can be your MVP development partner to test your product idea, harness learning, and shape your product. Tap here to know about our mobile application development services.