You're just starting your company, you've gathered seed funding, and then this term "MVP" is thrown around. What’s an MVP? MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. This is basically the very first version of what goes to market for your app or digital platform.

It can be overwhelming to begin to think about all the thing you need to get done in your business, let alone all the things you need to for your MVP! Here are some quick do’s and don’ts to help you move through your MVP with ease.

DO:

Keep your MVP as simple as possible

By identifying 3 core functions of your app (and make sure to keep it to 3 only!), you can keep a minimal MVP that is within scope and has lots of room to iterate. We see a lot of people try to cram everything into an MVP, and it typically becomes a lot of scope creep and headache to get your app to market quickly. If you have a feature you really love, consider moving it to an MVPV2!

DO:

Create a prototype

Clickable prototypes are an awesome visual way to showcase your app as it would appear to your users. Visuals are really great, especially when explaining your ideas.

DO:

Get input from stakeholders and users

Test your MVP and show it to others before spending money on development. We see a lot of people going straight to development, and we know you can gain some valuable insight from stakeholders by including a prototype in your pitch deck! Showing the prototype to beta potential users is also a great way to test your product before it goes to engineering.

DON’T:

Get hyper-focused on one idea or function

Be open to the feedback you receive. Since you’re at the very early stages, you may get some feedback that one of the features you think is really great isn’t really impressing your stakeholders or users. And that’s okay! Typically, your favorite thing about the app is one of the last things people notice. Why is that? Is it some bad karma or juju? Possibly. But more commonly it’s that people new to your app or product are looking at the MAIN functions, not really the bells and whistle features. Especially in an MVP!

DON’T:

Try to design your MVP in pieces

It’s really important that your app is thought out from start to finish. This means the process of designing it should be the same! It’s tempting to try to get some beautiful screens together for a pitch deck, but at the end of the day, it makes a difference when you showcase your ideas when they’re well thought out!

DON’T:

Avoid thinking about subscription models

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of this new tech! Don’t forget about your business model and how this tech actually works with your model. Is it a free platform with upsells? Do people pay to get into the platform? Sorting this out from the beginning is foundational to your UI/UX design.

Interested in chatting more with us about how to design your MVP? Contact us at info@irisdesigncollaborative.com.

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