The MVP Principle

You may have heard the term Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in conversations about apps and software, but what does it mean? 

The MVP principle was first used by Eric Ries in his 2009 book “Lean Startup”. 

Ries defined the principle as “[a] version of a product which allows teams to access the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort”. 

In simpler terms, the MVP principle allows a development team to produce an app or software solution in a minimal state in order to get feedback from the audience.

Here at Appt, we use the MVP principle in our development process because it provides many benefits to our clients.

So, what are these benefits? 

Feedback

First and foremost, the main benefit of the MVP principle is the understanding developers gain from the audience. 

The target audience gets early access to the app and can provide constructive criticism to the team. 

The audience feedback offers valuable insights into the user journey and overall experience of the app.

This allows our developers to adapt, change and alter the app through the production process to deliver an app which reflects the requests of the audience.

The feedback also creates a smoother development process as the team gains a more comprehensive understanding of what the app should be when it is fully released.

Demand

The MVP principle also allows for the development team to gauge the audience demand for their app.

If there is little to no interest in the product when it is released in its MVP stage, this may be an indication that the app will not succeed when it is fully released.

There are many reasons your app could be low in demand. There may be too many similar apps which cause a saturation of the marketplace or your app may lack a unique selling point to truly stand out from the crowd.

Without the MVP app in place, you risk sinking money and time into an app that was never going to be a success.

Cost

This leads directly into another benefit of the MVP principle, cost.

Developing an MVP app costs a fraction of producing a fully developed app. 

This smaller cost also comes with security. If the audience demand is indeed low for your idea, it is cheaper for you to discover this while using an MVP app.

Spending a large sum of money on a full design and development process for your app, only to find out there is little demand for your idea is extremely risky.

With the MVP principle in place, you can make sure your investment is secure. It is a low-cost, low-risk alternative to a fully developed app.

Time

Finally, your idea can get to market much quicker using the MVP principle. 

The minimal aspect of the MVP app results in a shorter time to get to market than a fully developed app.

From the market, the app can begin providing feedback to the development team from the audience, who not only provide user journey feedback, but also offer a technical perspective. Any potential bugs or technical issues can be identified here.

This results in a shorter development process down the line as development mistakes are caught early and can be amended.