UX for Lean Startups

Chapter 9. An MVP Is Both M & V

In this chapter:

• Learn the concept of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and how it affects your UX decisions.

• Understand the difference between a minimal product and a bad product.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Minimum Viable Products. You’ve probably even heard people arguing over how minimum and how viable an MVP really has to be. In this chapter, we’re going to demystify the MVP and help you understand when they’re a good idea.

The concept of the Minimum Viable Product is both great and terrible. It is such a lovely idea—distill your product down to only what is absolutely critical, and don’t waste time on anything that isn’t necessary.

First things first. What is an MVP? The idea behind a Minimum Viable Product is that, instead of taking months and months building a huge product with dozens of features and all sorts of bells and whistles before finally launching a giant thing that nobody wants, maybe it would be a better idea to launch something smaller and start learning earlier.

The idea is not that you’re building a tiny, useless product. The idea is also not that you’re building a bad product. That is never the idea. The idea is that you’re starting with a good, small product and then iterating and adding features that people will use.

This would be absolutely brilliant if anybody was ever able to come to some sort of agreement about the exact set of necessary features for an MVP. After all, it often turns out that things you think are necessary aren’t ...