How to build a Minimum Viable Product
The Internet has transformed the basic human activities such as communication, eating, travelling and even love. It has changed the way we live and work. We use multiple products through our smartphone or computer and interact with them for our needs.
New apps, website and products are released every day with new features and value propositions looking to attract users. In the Google Play store alone, almost 6200 apps get released every day. So how do you convince customers to download or use your product and stick to it? How do you create a product which is good enough to be used frequently by customers?
1. Do not build an app unless it's necessary
Mobile apps are for high-frequency products which the customer needs to use at least once a month. For example, food ordering, taxi booking, ticket booking, shopping, networking, news, learning, gaming and others.
Do not build an app for creating an architecture prototype to build a house. The customer is going to use that once or twice in his entire life. It will be much easier to build and market the product if it is a website. Websites are cheaper to build and can get organic traffic and visibility through search engine optimisation.
2. Try to explain the product in 3–4 words
Lesser the features, higher the chances of your product to succeed. Most mass consumer products can define their core feature in 3–4 words. Note that this is only true for B2C products and is not applicable for B2B products like Freshworks, InMobi and others.
Restricting your features and creating a core feature which defines the product's value proposition is key in product development.
3. Avoid being a perfectionist
Most people tend to build the perfect product with the maximum number of features. People do that to increase the value proposition of their product. But this can only lead to higher product development time, higher costs, more non-core features and increased product complexity.
Once your core feature is ready, do not wait to have a great UI design and interface. Release it immediately into the market or within your friends and family network. Use Facebook, Instagram and social media channels to reach out to early customers and get feedback from them. We have written an article which could help you on how to create an ad on Facebook and Instagram.
4. Practice Kaizen — Continuous Improvement
Kaizen is a Japanese term popularised and religiously followed by Toyota for its business philosophy of ‘Continous Improvement’. Products and their features need to adapt to the hyperdynamic market and user taste. Observe how your users interact with the product using tools like UXcam and Inspectlet.
Remove unused non-core features and improve on the user experience of the core feature. If you building a product to search for lawyers around you, do not add a newsfeed into the product since users are not going to use your product to read the news.
I hope this article would help you to build an MVP and a product that can provide value to users. If you have any questions or want us to help you develop a Minimum Viable Product, don’t hesitate to contact us.
