How do you know a product will work? You really do not, no matter the planning involved. To be sure, you must test a product before investing all your time, value, and resources.
An MVP is an excellent step that helps you preview, decide, test, and finalize all the necessary adjustments your product requires to get going with its final version. It enables you to understand where you stand in this market so you do not get lost.
So, in this blog, MarsDevs introduces you to the importance of an MVP, what it stands for, and the steps you need to consider before you develop one.
What are the different types of Minimum Viable Products?
Understanding the possibilities can help you create an MVP easily. MarsDevs presents six main ways to use the concept here.
Software Prototypes A piece of software can be referred to as its prototype. It is one of the most complex ones yet is one of the most common ones when you consider an MVP. To test your idea, you need to build the software with just the core components and features. Software Prototypes are MarsDevs' favorite as they help you understand the insights better and get going with the next steps.
Product Designs You can use product design as an MVP in different ways. Some are especially useful for software, mobile apps, and other tech tools. The most simple ones start with a sketch. You can devise a sketch by hand or use a tool. If you want a more specific and slightly more complex mechanism, you can prepare a wireframe that illustrates the user experience, hierarchy, and navigation. Finally, you can have a final mockup demonstrating how your product will work.
Demo Videos A demo video can help explain what your product can do for you. When you show the video to potential users, it helps them visualize better and lets you see if it's the solution the market is looking for.
Landing Pages You can announce your new product through a landing page and gauge public interest fast. You can then ask users to submit their email addresses to send over updates. This process helps determine if people are interested and gain leads to whom you should target while marketing.
Piecemeal You can simply create a piecemeal MVP too. You can combine components from the existing tools to demonstrate how the product will work for the users.
Concierge A concierge MVP can help you find people willing to try out different subscription services. It sends them a personalized selection of products customized for each individual. If the idea succeeds, you can build an app to analyze the user responses and chooses what product to send to each of them.
Wizard of Oz The Wizard of Oz is also called manual-first and flintstone MVP. This model involves acting like your product already exists in the market when, in fact, it is still in its development phase. This is an ideal type for most service-based startups.
What are the different methods for an MVP Product Research process?
Introducing the market to a minimum viable product is an excellent approach for a startup to get feedback before investing in a lump sum. The MVP strategy stands by the idea that you can provide good customer value by supplying only the features that early adopters demand. It helps you gather comments and create better products. But first, you need to get the research right. There are several MVP research methods that you should consider:
Win-Loss Analysis Win/Loss Analysis involves a strategic, forensic market research exercise that makes you focus on understanding how your potential customers make purchasing decisions and how they evaluate your company's offering. This also helps you devise a better sales technique compared to your competitors. You go through the win-loss analysis process when you conduct in-depth telephone interviews with new clients or lost prospects. Using this model, you can gather actionable data, synthesize it, and use it to help your organization. This can eventually help you achieve continuous improvement.
Beta Programmes If you look at it from a marketer's perspective, you will realize how a beta version can help you get customer feedback, understand what they like about the product, and what you can improve. It can help you back up your research to position the assumptions.
Focus Groups A focus group comprises 6-10 people gathered in a room to provide constant input on a product, service, idea, or marketing campaign. If you involve a qualified moderator, you can easily facilitate a 30-90-minute group conversation. The moderator can come prepared with around 10-12 questions to help you get the most input.
That list gets shared with the group throughout their time together to generate a thoughtful response from all the members. The moderator's purpose is to get insights from everyone and facilitate the exchange of diverse viewpoints to jot down more ideas.
Are you aware of the issues that your market requires solutions to? According to the MVP method, you don't have to solve every problem simultaneously. Target the most significant and fundamental issues and solve them first. When you are done, introduce a fast feedback loop to gather information and keep improving.
Minimum Viable Product vs. Minimum Marketable Product
You need to understand that a minimum viable product and a minimum marketable product are not the same. An MVP is a learning vehicle that lets an entrepreneur assess the initial product by measuring data from the initial users.
In contrast, a minimal marketable product refers to a complete product that you can sell. While it has fewer features than users need and focuses on the most important ones, it still allows the business to look forward to decent sales.
MarsDevs presents five standout examples of Minimum Viable Products!
The most successful minimum viable products do not have to stay startups for long. MarsDevs presents seven such successful examples that stand out.
Dropbox Did you know that Dropbox started out as a demo video at first? The video explained why storing data in one place is so necessary for you. The feedback from users helped strategize better and get the product ready with the help of funds from the investors.
Amazon You must already know that the Amazon we always run to for even the basic needs first began as an online bookstore. But did you know that Jeff Bezos bought books from distributors to ship them to the customers every time his online store got an order? The high book sales made sense, and they kept adding more products to the store, acquiring warehouses, and finally providing individuals with a more personalized experience on their website.
Foursquare As a user, when you first began using Foursquare, just one feature must have caught your eye. This is because there is only one feature. People would check in at different locations to win badges. The introduction to the initial gamification made people excited about coming back for the services. Only once Foursquare collected a solid user base it expanded to become a complete city guide for all.
AdWords Express When AdWords Express came out, users thought it was just automating ad copy. A team of students quickly typed ads and delivered them to customers. Once it became apparent that this was a service people actually wanted, AdWords Express developed into an actual automated process.
AngelList Many platforms require a vast network to take off, but they can start small as an MVP. AngelList is a job and investment platform, serving as a great example. It started using just the team's contacts. Once the model worked, AngelList became a much more prominent platform for us.
Build an excellent MVP with the best product development team at MarsDevs!
MarsDevs helps you be more creative, try more efficient systems, and play the long-term game. We know how to do it differently and still be relevant. So, our collaboration can help you understand what your business needs at the moment. While a tech co-founder enables you to understand the processes better, it should not stop you from starting.
MarsDevs is a one-stop development shop that takes care of all your tech needs and makes your business more efficient. We also help you with expert consultancy to know if you get off track. And that's not it. We have a team of dedicated experts to develop, manage, and deploy applications while you focus on scaling the business. We know it already sounds unbelievable. But in this list of incredible truths, we would like to add one more. MarsDevs is affordable too.
So, instead of waiting and worrying about what's next. Get ready with your tech requirements and get on a call with us. We will discuss possibilities and expertise while you present the plan. Let us know about your project, and let's get going then. What do you say?
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