Discussions around MVP are not new. Almost everyone who has ever dealt with software development knows what it is and why it is used. Nevertheless, customers change their behavior over years and the market has to respond to these shifts in order to survive and develop. This means that people’s attitudes toward some things can undergo some changes as well. In this article, we will speak about MVP mobile app development and see whether any new trends and tendencies have emerged with regard to this process.
What is a minimum viable product: past and present
Let’s revise everything, briefly, from the very beginning. You know that a minimum viable product is what MVP stands for. Although most people learned this term from Eric Ries and Steve Blank, you should know that the very first man who used it was Frank Robinson, the co-founder and president of SyncDev.
The SyncDev company defined MVP as “the right-sized product for your company and your customer.” They explained that a minimum viable product has to be a sweet spot between too many features and lack of important features to reduce risks.
The great popularizer of MVP, Eric Ries, wrote a book called “The Lean Startup” where he defined the term as the “version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” In this whole process of MVP creation, the main role was devoted to collecting and analyzing data to be able to improve the product in the next iteration based on the received feedback.
The words “version of a new product” give reason to distinguish a few types of MVP: wireframes, mockups, explainer videos, landing pages, software prototypes. These allow startups to collect validated learning without even building a product itself, though the last item is regarded as a separate MVP type too if it has only the basic features required to be ready for the market.
There are many famous companies that can be great minimum viable product examples in their initial stage: Dropbox (explainer video), Airbnb (a web page), AngelList (email intros to investors), Product Hunt (a group for sharing links), just to name a few. Even the very first iPhone is an MVP because it lacked some features that its closest competitors already had (copy-paste, search, MMS, Bluetooth).
Digging deeper into the matter, you may come across one more term — the minimal marketable product (MMP). MMP is used to denote a product with the smallest set of features necessary to be presented to users and marketed.
Speaking of the relation between these two terms; they used to be treated based on the main purpose each of them had. MVP was mainly the means of idea validation and MMP was a market-ready product built in accordance with the received insights with the help of MVP. As of today, the situation has changed. Now the majority of people and companies define MVP as the smallest product that can be launched and offered to the public. This new perception eliminates the difference between a minimum viable product and a minimal marketable product, leaving no need to use the latter.
If you analyze the MVP concept integrally, it all comes down to the question of reducing risks in the conditions of extreme uncertainty that new products usually face. Indeed, the chances of product failure are very high because the market is competitive and demanding. Entrepreneurs have to be extremely careful with what they offer customers, and MVP is just the right start to test the waters.
Peculiarities and features of MVP mobile apps
The Lean Startup methodology has been widely adopted by entrepreneurs and mobile app development companies. There is a solid reason for this. The number of applications in app stores grows every day and the competition is more and more cut-throat. Using a minimum viable product to test the market of mobile apps is a very wise decision.
Let’s determine the meaning of an MVP mobile app to avoid misunderstandings. It is a complete standalone application that has the minimum, but enough, basic features to be launched and run smoothly. The quality of the product should not be underestimated. It’s a big mistake to think that users will forgive you for bugs or some glitches just because you offer an MVP and the best of your application is yet to come. The conditions are severe because people have many choices and only the best wins the race.
The key reason for the decision to start with an MVP app is the opportunity to launch it as quickly as possible with a minimal budget. This will allow you to test whether users even need your product. If they don’t, you have a chance to adjust your app to the demand of your target users by knowing their exact needs.
Even if you have enough money to build an application with a lot of features, you should still consider starting your business with an MVP. The whole thing in this approach is not about budget, but about validating your idea. Why waste your time and money if nobody is interested in the final product as you imagine it?
Though the functionality of an MVP app should be limited, there are definite features any application cannot be developed without. They have become an integral part of user experience and people expect to have them in every app.
As you see, there are two kinds of apps: a user application and an admin panel. The latter is necessary because every product should be managed. As long as applications have users and content, they need moderation to avoid violations and so as not to break restrictions.
The rest of the MVP features depend on a specific mobile app idea and the industry the application will be released for. This relates more to user apps; as admin panels have more or less standard features, we won’t dwell on them.
Learn more about the features of various MVP mobile apps, stages of working on MVP, cost, time, team, and much more on our MLSDev website and blog.
