{"id":296,"date":"2019-03-28T12:15:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T12:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/appomate.com.au\/?p=296"},"modified":"2021-09-07T05:00:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T05:00:37","slug":"understanding-minimum-viable-product-apps-key-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appomate.com.au\/blog\/2019\/03\/28\/understanding-minimum-viable-product-apps-key-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Is Key To Success – Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP)<\/strong> means building a product with basic yet necessary features that allows you to release it to the market immediately. Below are the reasons why MVP is Key to your product success.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

At Appomate we\u2019re often asked to build Apps to supplement or complement an existing product, potentially to improve app business processes or create a new revenue stream. In such cases, building an MVP is advantageous because it involves less effort enabling the appreneurs to test their app idea with potential customers\/users.<\/p>\n

Most of appreneurs approach us with App projects which is in the \u201cidea\u201d phase. At this phase the apprenuers have typically done some market or user research to validate their idea, but when it comes to the budget that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n

We deal with Appreneurs who often only have very little money raised, potentially have investors ready to go when the idea is further along or they are yet to start raising funds, it\u2019s at this point we ask them the below question:<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you heard the concept of MVP?\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Minimum<\/center>Based on how many prospective clients haven\u2019t, I\u2019d like to explain what MVP means and why the concept of MVP is very important.<\/p>\n

What is \u201cMinimum Viable Product\u201d?<\/p>\n

Now, if you haven\u2019t read the\u00a0Lean Startup<\/a>\u00a0yet, add it to your list. It\u2019s the foundation for many processes that companies use.<\/p>\n

Minimum Viable Product or MVP<\/strong> is more of a concept or philosophy than a specific process or technique. The idea is to get something\u00a0to market<\/strong> as soon as possible, get real people using it and then iterate or add features based on user feedback instead of assumptions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very tricky to actually execute a minimum viable product launch, however. No one wants to put anything but their best foot forward, so why would anyone put something out into the world that\u2019s\u2026 unfinished? (Gasp!).<\/p>\n

To note, there\u2019s a misconception that an MVP is\u00a0unpolished or unfinished. That\u2019s not the case. It may not have all the features you dreamed of, but it has all the functionality you need.<\/p>\n

\"Minimum<\/center><\/p>\n

An additional factor is that app businesses shouldn\u2019t waste valuable time and resources on anything that isn\u2019t essential to their business.<\/p>\n

The only way to really know what your app needs is to see how people are using it.<\/p>\n

The core methodology is \u201cBuild. Measure. Learn<\/a>.\u201d The point is to learn quickly and iterate.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s an Example<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Think back to the first time you used Facebook.<\/p>\n

Did Facebook look like it does today?<\/p>\n

Do you think that Mark Zuckerberg, in his Harvard dorm room, envisioned the Facebook that exists now?<\/p>\n

\"how<\/center>Of course not.<\/p>\n

How could he? In fact, some technology that Facebook relies on wasn\u2019t even available back then.<\/p>\n

Then, how did Facebook turn to be a social giant now? Initially, Facebook rolled out an MVP to Harvard students and the prototype was tested for user feedback. In fact, some technology that Facebook relies on wasn\u2019t even available back then.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons Facebook is especially successful is that they\u2019re constantly assessing, iterating and evolving<\/a>. In order for Facebook to be successful, they weren\u2019t able to build a product, \u201ctake it to market\u201d it and then sit back while the dollars rolled in.<\/p>\n

To this day, Facebook develop the code on all of its platforms (website, iOS, Android, etc.) twice a day, every day!<\/p>\n

Can you remember about using Twitter for the first time?<\/p>\n

Twitter didn\u2019t start out with a \u201cretweet\u201d button, but after the company realized that many people were copying other user\u2019s tweets and pasting them into their Twitter feeds manually they incorporated this into their app.<\/p>\n

Instagram? Remember when Instagram had no video? But then Vine came along and everyone was talking about it. So the decision was made to incorporate video to continue to gain the marketplace. Remember when there was no Instagram website? Or no Android version? I do, and my nieces and nephews all had Instagram before I did so I was certainly not an “early adopter” the app.<\/p>\n

Instagram\u2019s concept was that they could do better by getting to market, and they\u2019d build an Android version and a web version while iOS users started using the product. They were out there, even though they weren\u2019t\u00a0finished<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What does MVP mean for\u00a0your business\/app idea?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The term MVP in itself is quite broad. For an app where do you start? Where do you stop? What functions should you include and which can you do without for your launch? Which features are essential?<\/p>\n

Below are some guidelines you can use to guide you through that process.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The App has to look and feel finished<\/strong>. This means it should be fully branded and designed, it shouldn\u2019t have bugs, and every visible button and link should work. First impressions and trust are still immeasurably important\u2013 maybe even more so for an MVP approach<\/li>\n
  2. The App<\/strong>\u2019s core functions need to work<\/strong>. For example, if your app is a photo-sharing service, it needs to be able to share photos. It doesn\u2019t need to have full tagging capabilities or social media sharing options yet, but it needs to do what it\u2019s supposed to do.<\/li>\n
  3. Anything that doesn\u2019t absolutely require automation can begin as a manual process<\/strong>. Let\u2019s face it, it\u2019s unlikely your app will generate a million users in your first month. No doubt it would be nice to have a custom-built automated customer service platform, perhaps with live chat, but it\u2019s probably smarter to launch phase one of your app with a simple email address or phone number that users can contact for assistance.<\/li>\n
  4. Implementing change needs to be as simple as possible, with few barriers<\/strong>. When businesses decide to release a \u201cphase one\u201d, \u201clight\u201d or BETA versions of their app with the intention of having it grow, The key is you need to react to how people currently using it. You have to keep improving it. If something clearly needs to be added or changed you need to do this as rapid as possible to keep your users engaged and open to recommending your app to others.<\/li>\n
  5. Owners and Investors need to keep an open mind.<\/strong> While the MVP process is highly successful in app development and technology circles there\u2019s still a lot of trial and error involved. If the decision-makers are fighting the process the whole way, it will surely fail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Understanding MVP is the key to success: Benefits<\/h2>\n