Entrepreneurs are extremely motivated visionaries—however, they often make the mistake of focusing on the Grand Problem, rather than getting a minimum viable product (MVP) first. The fact is that businesses looking for IT outsourcing companies often misunderstand or underestimate the potential of an MVP. Let’s take a closer look at it.
The Final Product is a Lamp: The MVP is a Candle
Fire creates light, but is not portable.
Candles are portable, but dim and fragile.
Light Bulbs are reliable, but demanding.
LED Lights are efficient, but disconnected.
Smart Lights are connected, but…
In the IT outsourcing industry, an MVP is a development model in which a product is built with just enough features to satisfy the needs of early adopters. The key here is learning. Once the MVP is released, the owning business can begin to design and add new features based on the feedback received from their first users.
This is, perhaps, the main reason why a company should develop an MVP: to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. Once customers have the actual product in their hands, observing their behavior and the way they interact with it will be a much more reliable way to uncover insights than simply asking.
The 3 Keys to MVP Development
Just as is the case with light, founders of new companies or products must have a clear vision of the problem or necessity they will be looking to solve.
#1 Start Small
Designing a simple product that solves a tiny problem is the perfect way to begin.
Study the market, identify a necessity, and think about how it could be solved for a small group of people using minimal resources.
#2 Don’t Stop Learning
Work from a cyclical perspective and keep iterating over and over again.
The goal of the first MVP is to gather the information that drives the product’s evolution toward solving bigger business problems.
#3 Focus on Your Vision
Great products are not just products—they constantly communicate a vision of a better world.
Doing this will attract attention and take the product through a streamlined journey of constant improvement.
A Delicate Balance
When an IT outsourcing company develops an MVP, the goal is to balance minimal design with maximum value. However, focusing too much on minimalism might result in a product that is unsuitable for gathering valuable insights. It may even have a negative effect on the brand’s reputation since users will build a negative overall impression of the product.
The key to finding the balance in MVP development is to start by clearly defining the essential functions that give value to the product and make the project viable. As testing begins and feedback comes back, additional functionalities may continue to be added. The response received from these new changes is the only way to make sure that the product will match what users want or expect.
How To Develop a Successful MVP
The key steps to successful MVP development.
#1 Research and Analysis
Ideas are only as valuable as the market decides they are. Before developing any kind of MVP, it is fundamental to determine if it fulfills the needs of the target user. Conducting surveys is often a good place to start and increase the chances of success. By understanding your meta user and market, you can pinpoint exactly where you can provide value.
#2 Build Experiences
The product’s design should have the user’s convenience at its core. Keep focused on developing all functionalities from the user’s perspective, from the moment they come into contact with your product to the moment they fulfill their necessity.
#3 Prioritize Features
Make a thorough list of all the features you would like to incorporate into your product. After that comes the hard part—prioritizing them based on what is most valuable to your early user. Categorizing by tags (high-priority, medium-priority, and low-priority) helps a lot.
#4 Time for Action
Whether you develop your MVP in-house or work with an IT outsourcing company, keep in mind that an MVP is not a lower-quality version of the final product—it still needs to fulfill your customer’s needs. If the previous steps were carried out successfully, your first prototype should turn out to be easy to use and engaging.
Getting Started with MVP Development
If you are looking for MVP development solutions, it is essential to find the right match for you. At BairesDev we can develop your product from start to finish, or handle individual segments of the process for you. We offer world-class software MVP development services that allow you to have a functional version of your software product in a matter of weeks. All core features will be ready for user testing, through which you will get all the in-depth market understanding you may need to build a successful final version.
Whether you have a prototype or not, our MVP teams will guide you towards a starting point that will serve as a clear visual point of reference. If you want to turn your raw ideas into usable software that can be tested with real users, our Lean & Agile MVP Development services are a great fit for you.
