Around the globe, more and more organisations are adopting lean startup methodology. That’s hardly surprising: the methodology allows startups and established companies alike figure out what they should do next quickly and at at minimal cost.
A vital part of the methodology is the minimum viable product (MVP), or the minimum product you can put in front of your customers to learn from.
While most organisations understand the idea of an MVP, they sometimes battle to figure out how to actually develop one.
Fortunately, help is at hand. At innoway, we’re ideally placed to guide organisations through the MVP process.
Here’s how we do it.
1. Understanding the challenge
The first thing we do when working with any organisation is help them frame the challenge they are trying to solve.
The goal here is for the organisation to be able to articulate this challenge as clearly as possible. A good approach is the OKR methodology. We also suggest describing the problem from the customer’s point of view – even using their words. As an example from a mortgage application waiting times, your challenge statement could be something like: “I don’t want to wait more than 20 minutes to find out if my mortgage application has been successful”.
2. Identify the technical requirements
The next step is to identify the technical requirements needed to bring the MVP to life.
These include things like online, offline, and physical resources, as well as which platforms to use.
If the requirements are beyond the reach of the organisation, then they need to go back and rearticulate the problem they’re trying to solve. If not, they can carry on with the process.
3. Set a time limit
At innoway, limit our clients to a two week period for the whole MVP process (this is our standard speed for experimentation).
These two weeks include the build – measure – learn loop. Remember, the idea here is to get something out as quickly as possible, measure its effectiveness, and learn from it.
Without a time limit, teams are likely to lose focus and the sense of urgency required for an MVP. There’s also the very real danger of product creep, which is also antithetical to the idea of an MVP.
4. Limit the resources
As well as limiting our clients to two weeks for the MVP process, we also limit the amount we can spend to US$1000.
Our belief is that anyone spending more than that isn’t building an MVP.
Remember, the principle of an MVP comes from the startup space, where resources are naturally limited.
That’s part of what makes it work. When we have limited resources, we’re forced to be more creative and innovative in our thinking. And that, in turn, means a better MVP.
5. Support the execution
Once we’ve guided a client through the MVP process, we support in executing the further development of the product.
This stage of the process is much less hands-on and usually depending on the client’s availability and capabilities.
Why we do it
It’s also important to remember that our goal isn’t to help organisations come up with their next big product on a one-off basis.
If happen to build something great in the process, that’s great. But our real aim is to help organisations change the way they think about product development and building.
If we leave the organisation more open to innovation and experimentation than when we arrived, then we’ve succeeded.
If you’d like to find out how innoway can help your company through the MVP process, contact us here.
