If you are a designer or in any case you work in the field of design, you certainly know what an MVP is.
Quick terminology explanation for everyone: the acronym stands for Minimum Viable Product, which in Italian can be translated as “Minimum Actionable Product.” Okay, that sounds less cool, but the concept is the same. The original definition of MVP is attributed to Eric Ries, entrepreneur, blogger and author of the international bestseller The Lean Startup:
The minimum viable product is that product which has just those features (and no more) that allows you to ship a product that resonates with early adopters; some of whom will pay you money or give you feedback.
If in addition to your passion for design, you have a passion for basketball — like Ale — you may have confused it with Most Valuable Player... attention, from the playing field to the field of design, the acronym MVP changes meaning!
Joking aside, in recent times some professionals and companies — including us — have started using the translation of Minimum Valuable Product, or Minimum Value Product. Others even prefer the acronym MLP, that is Minimum Lovable Product because, in the end, who wouldn't want to create a product that is not only useful, but also “lovable”?!
Ultimately, and whatever term you prefer to use, MVP means the version of a digital product (app, software or website) launched on the market with basic functionality that can then be further developed. The goal? Collect initial feedback from users and the market, reducing development time and costs.
The MVP of a digital product must respect at least 3 fundamental characteristics:
1. Limited functionality, it does not have to do everything immediately, but only have the essentials to be used.
2. Value for users, must solve a concrete problem or satisfy a real need in such a way as to convince users that the product is indispensable or in any case useful.
3. Future potential, must be designed in such a way as to make users understand the potential evolutions and future benefits of the product.
So, when we define and develop an MVP, we focus on the main features that solve the main problem for users while ignoring everything else, namely the so-called characteristics. Nice to Have, not essential in the initial phase. At the same time, we don't think of an MVP as a beta version. For us, the beta is a bit like a promising basketball player who, however, is still perfecting the free throw. The MPV, on the other hand, is that talented player who has already made his NBA debut even though he hasn't yet shown all his skills — Ale cared about the sports metaphor!
The MVP is in effect a working, attractive and performing product: the user experience must be valid so that users use the product with pleasure and become its biggest fans and promoters.
Among the successful projects, which started with what we now define as an MVP, we like to cite as examples:
We increasingly notice that the MVP design approach is applied not only to digital projects, but also to hybrid products: this is the case ofAi Pin By Humane or by Rabbit R1 (read our review) who aim to create a product with characteristics, form factors and interactions that can be a real alternative to smartphones, also thanks to a deep integration with AI.
Both caused great hype at the time of the presentation and both received a lot of criticism once distributed on the market: “they don't do what they promise”, “there are bugs”, “the functions are incomplete”, “they cannot replace a real smartphone”, to name a few.
We agree: AI Pin and R1 are not yet mature products and do not achieve the promised goal, but both companies decided to anticipate the release even though they were aware of the limitations. And we agree with them too! Why? Because in the meantime they can collect feedback from the reviews of tech bloggers and users, evaluate the attention generated, understand the room for maneuver with respect to the expected market shares, raise funds from investors and stand out as the first to launch these types of products.
As a designer, the answer we give to this question is: keeping a product simple is CHALLENGING.
During the development phase of a project, a thousand thousand ideas and functionality proposals are always generated. It is often difficult to select, choose and discard, so we clearly identify the needs of the company and users and the key characteristics of the product that satisfy them.
Through an open dialogue with the project team and stakeholders and careful research with users (interviews, field observations, prototype tests) it is easier to create an MVP that focuses on what really matters and who is able to collect valuable feedback.
As we write this article, we are working on the launch of a new app for the medical sector. Together with the business team and the development team, we have invested about 3 weeks to map all the necessary features and functionalities and to divide them in order of priority, feasibility and effectiveness with respect to the needs of the users.
The process was not simple, but thanks to this analysis we defined the MVP of the project which, compared to the initial requests, made it possible to halve the time for launching the app (from 6 to 3 months) and to reduce and redistribute development costs over several phases.
From experience and with knowledge of the facts, we can say that the implementation of an MVP is not only a development strategy, but a real philosophy that brings with it numerous advantages in the development of a project.
Here are the Top Five:
1. Reducing costs
By focusing on essential functionality, resources are not wasted on features that may not be useful or appreciated by users.
2. Velocity
The product can be launched on the market much faster, obtaining a competitive advantage and allowing it to occupy a niche before competitors.
3. Immediate feedback
Real feedback can be collected from users at an early stage to better understand needs and preferences and to adapt the product accordingly.
4. Reducing risk
Testing the most important features and receiving feedback before a full implementation avoids massive investments in more complex products, which may not be successful in the market.
5. Validation of the business model
By collecting tangible evidence of market interest, it is possible to test and validate the company's business model.
In an increasingly competitive and constantly evolving market, the MVP allows companies, start-ups and institutions to be agile, responsive and focused on the real needs of users. And we like to address and deepen this topic, because it's not just about saving time and resources, but about building a path of sustainable growth based on concrete data and real feedback.
At Rawr, we do our best even when it comes to Minimum Value Products.
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