MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is an extremely famous concept in the world of startups and technology companies. Despite being coined by Frank Robinson, CEO of SyncDev, it was popularized by Eric Ries’ bestselling book “A Lean Startup”.
In addition to origins, it is important to know that this tool is extremely important for innovative and resource-conscious organizations. Thus, the MVP becomes essential to validate projects before the public.
So, if you want to know more about the concept, in addition to the types and applications of the technique, be sure to continue reading the special text we prepared until the end. Good reading!
What is Minimum Viable Product?
The Minimum Viable Product, or MVP, as it is better known, is a concept for validating a product in its market. From there, it is possible to test the public acceptance, as well as validate the functionalities and characteristics of the final version of the project.
It is important to emphasize that the MVP is not a ready-to-sell project. As we said initially, it serves as a quick and cheap test for companies, which can save resources in this important step.
Thus, after validation, it is possible to evolve the product to its final version — always according to public feedback. Also, this MVP test can show that the product will not be well received by the public — and this prevents the company from wasting important resources by insisting on a project with low demand.
Therefore, the MVP is an important innovation tool, whether for physical or technological products. In this case, we also consider the Minimum Viable Product for software, which “drinks” from the same premises to validate whether a system will have good acceptance or not.
Types of Minimum Viable Product
Although it is a simple concept, there are several types of MVP in the startup and technology ecosystem. Let’s take a look at the top 5 below:
1. MVP Concierge
MVP Concierge is one of the leanest models to validate a product on the market. It consists of individual and manual construction of the project, which can be done by the entrepreneur himself in a very short time.
In the case of a system, it is not even necessary to use programming to validate the idea. A presentation, diagram or “No code” tools such as Notion, Coda, Airtable or Zapier, for example, can help with prototyping.
2. Functional MVP
The Functional MVP is a step further when it comes to validating an idea in the market. In this type of Minimum Viable Product, automations and some programming are already used to make the project more robust.
However, this step is not recommended early on, as it can already utilize important company resources. So the idea is to start with the MVP Concierge and move up to the working version when the time is right.
3. Wizard of OZ MVP
The Minimum Viable Product for software is called the Magic MVP of OZ, where the validation consists of presenting a working prototype of the system. Thus, the user will be able to visualize a little of the interface and some features of the product.
Another important point in the magical MVP of OZ is that it doesn’t necessarily need to be programmed. System functions can be performed manually as a demonstration. Thus, it is not necessary to have a programmer to validate a software project.
4. Prototype MVP
The Prototype MVP is one of the more advanced types — when it comes to product validation — and is usually meant for physical products.
In this case, the project is built normally and validated directly by the end users, who can thoroughly test each functionality. A recent example was Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, sent to groups of people in Brazil, so that its Portuguese version could be properly evaluated.
A curious fact, for the Prototype MVP, is that the test versions gain a status above normal, since they are the first versions of an eventual successful product. It is common for these items to be sold on auction sites for very high prices because they are extremely rare and historic.
5. Double MVP
Finally, we have the Double MVP, which consists of validating two products with small differences between them. In practice, the concept works as an A/B test, where the version with the best market acceptance will result in the final product.
Of course, both versions can fail, but, in general, the Double MVP helps to save resources in an assertive and important way for most companies.
How LogAp applies MVP to custom software development
The Minimum Viable Product for software is a routine here at LogAp. Based on this concept, and its available types, we quickly validate innovative systems and ideas for our customers.
Thus, we get quick and accurate feedback on the market’s behavior towards the project, which guarantees greater reliability, as well as savings in financial resources for the client.
So, if your company has any project ideas to validate, be sure to talk to our team. It will be a pleasure to apply software MVP concepts to validate your market acceptance.
