In Agile development, an MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, is the simplest version of a new product that can be released to gather essential feedback and learning from real users.
The concept of a Minimum Viable Product is a concept from Lean Startup that stresses the impact of learning in new product development. As defined by Eric Ries, an MVP is specifically that version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. This means it's not just about building a product with minimal features, but building one designed specifically to test core assumptions and learn what customers truly need and value, quickly and efficiently.
Why Use an MVP in Agile?
Adopting an MVP approach in Agile development offers several key benefits:
- Validate Ideas Early: Test the fundamental value proposition with real users before investing heavily.
- Reduce Risk: Minimize the risk of building the wrong product by getting early feedback.
- Accelerate Learning: Gain validated learning (empirical evidence) about customer behavior and needs.
- Faster Time to Market: Release a core product quickly to start gathering data.
- Efficient Resource Use: Focus efforts on the most critical features needed for learning.
Key Characteristics of an MVP
While the definition emphasizes learning and effort, an MVP typically possesses certain characteristics:
- Deliver Core Value: It must provide enough value for early adopters to use it and provide feedback.
- Usable: It should be functional and usable enough for users to interact with effectively.
- Minimum Feature Set: It includes only the essential features required to solve the core problem or test the main hypothesis.
- Foundation for Future Development: It serves as a base upon which more features can be added in subsequent iterations based on validated learning.
Think of an MVP not as a product with missing features, but as the smallest experiment to test if a significant problem is worth solving and how customers might use a solution. It's a crucial tool for navigating uncertainty in product development, aligned perfectly with Agile's iterative and feedback-driven nature.
