How to build effective Minimum Viable Product

Someone who wants to know the world of iOS and Android mobile app development, MVP is the term you should familiarize yourself. MVP not only assist in validating your idea for a mobile product but, it will also help you to implement the direction towards which app features you should include for achieving success. Below, we will take you through what is MVP? Why it is integral to a business? How to build within the shortest period? 

What is an MVP? 

MVP is nothing but a minimum viable product. In a mobile app, development MVP is a basic version of an application. MVP is also a process where a new product is developed with the core functionalities to test how the target's audience will react and then the actual product with a full set of features will be developed right after feedback is received from the early adopters. It also helps in testing, designing and delivering the final product. MVP plays an essential role in web development and designing. There are so many companies who have faced difficulty while launching a minimum viable product for a mobile app or a web, that’s the reason why it is crucial to understand the entire process of MVP. 

Why build an MVP? 

The significant goal of an MVP is to develop a working product which will quickly provide immediate value while minimizing the coasts. An MVP will also set the stage for future development which will help in clarifying the subsequent steps to take in the project whether that is entirely changing your direction or continue down your fixed development path. 

In some instances, an MVP can also be used for showcasing business potential and win stakeholder buy-in. Whether you are looking for support from internal or external investors, an MVP can definitely strengthen your position, as it provides the merit of your product to secure funding for future development. 

Following steps are given for creating an MVP in detail: 

Step 1: Identify and Understand your Business and Market Needs 

The first step is to identify if there is a need for your product in the market or this can be an organization need or a customer need which you can address a current gap. It is also important to know what your competitors are doing and how they can make your product stand out from the crowd. This way will help in determining what kind of mobile product you need, to be successful in the current market. Once you determined that there is a need for your product, and then it’s essential for you to set a long term business goal with defining the success of your product. 

Step 2: Map out User Journey 

It is essential to design your mobile application development product with keeping your end users in mind. A good way for ensuring your end users will have a good experience with the first iteration of your app. Therefore, mapping out user journey will enable you to look at your product from the user’s perspective, beginning with opening the app to reaching an end goal, such as making a purchase. Henceforth, this also provides an insight into how you can design the app in a way which will be convenient for end users. Besides, defining user flow and addressing the actions users need to take in order to complete an end goal; it also helps to ensure that you don’t miss anything while keeping users satisfaction in mind. 

Step 3: Create a pain and gain map 

Right after working on end users flow you need to create a pain and gain map for each action. This pain and gain map will help you to identify all the user pain points and the gain the user achieves when it is addressed. This strategy will also help you to determine where you have the most significant potential to add value. You are then able to focus your MVP in these areas while adding the less impactful one to your product roadmap for future releases. 

Step 4: Decide What Features to Build 

In this stage, you will know what features you need to include in your mobile app development, as well as what features you need to exclude from your product roadmap which is lower in priority. By asking the question of what the end user wants vs. what does end user need can also help to identify and prioritize the features. So while implementing keep in mind, too many features can also harm the user experience and can take away the overall purpose of the product. 

So, right after launching your MVP, it is important to collect feedback from your set targeted audience because users can tell us where the product is lacking and help to ensure the market validation. This way will also help you to generate new ideas grounded in user’s behaviour research which will also provide the subsequent version of your product. Therefore it is essential to continue to test, learn and measure and then test again until the product gets complete. 

So, for wrapping up, a minimum viable product aims for solving the core problems with the app by recognizing the pain points and then focusing on sustainable offering solutions. So the best way to build an MVP is to use a manual-based approach with the landing pages and email lists which will help in resulting in maximizing the project value to potential customers.