Try and error is the best way to test if it’s feasible not! Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a simple version of a new product/service designed to quickly gain customer/user feedback. The design team gains the most experience and collects customer feedback at the lowest cost through cycles of developing, testing, learning, and improving and optimizing. Through MVP, companies can launch products in the shortest possible time and further understand the market demand.
The essence of MVP is the fast and simple, and verifies the actual market demand with the main functions of the product/service. The following are several examples to explain MVP:
MVP: A social networking site for Harvard students
Proof of Concept: Started as an internal platform for Harvard students, later expanded to other Ivy League schools
Products/Services: Open to more universities, introduce news, add photo sharing functions, and expand to the world
Dropbox
MVP: File sync service for storing and sharing files
Proof of concept: Created a basic three-minute explanatory video and shared it online, receiving a lot of positive feedback
Products/Services: Enhanced file sharing, collaboration and access capabilities
Uber
MVP: A ride-sharing service that connects drivers and passengers
Proof of concept: Started with a simple app, tested on a circle of friends and family
Products/Services: Expanded services including UberX, UberPool, UberEats, and more
Spotify
MVP: Music streaming service with access to a huge music library
Proof of concept: launched in Sweden with limited music library first to collect feedback
Products/Services: Expand music library, add personalized playlists, go global
Another classic example is Tesla, which pre-sales cars through demonstrations first, then mass-produces. Although the demonstrated product already has most of the functions and appearance that the final product may have, for car companies, building a car is one thing and mass production is another story. The higher the technical difficulty of a product, the higher the feasibility risk in the later stage.
Exceptional Viable Product (EVP)
If the company has just started, the brand is not yet mature, and the market influence is limited, MVP is the best choice to quickly verify the market because the risk of failure and brand cost are very limited.
On the contrary, the situation is different for companies with mature brands and wide influence. Rand Fishkin proposed the “Exceptional Viable Product” concept, which product/service needs to be tested within the company and even with selected customers before it is officially released. Apple has always followed this approach to ensure product quality through comprehensive and internal tests. The reason is that it does not want to damage the brand equity, also to maintain the competitiveness of its products and prevent them from being copied by competitors.
Conclusion
I highly recommend MVP to business owners, because the main reason why many start-up companies fail is that they do not understand the market well enough. MVP is a brand-new concept that focuses on the feasibility of the product/service and the launching of a product/service with profit potential at the lowest cost, preventing start-ups from making many mistakes.
The key of MVP is speed first, and the completeness of the product always comes second. I get to know many business owners who are “perfectionists”, but MVP is to quickly seize the opportunities, and the business owners must abandon personal subjective perfectionism.