Going About The Minimal Viable Product (MVP) Process

Minimal Viable Product (MVP) testing has to be done for a new product assumption while it is still in the idea development stage. This will help in testing out all the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ that you have contemplated for a particular product before you commence actual production. This will help in minimizing the risks involved and save you plenty of time and money spent on building the wrong thing.

In Lean Start-ups assumptions are unproven beliefs about what you have on mind that will make your product work. Some of the basic assumptions are – people will buy your product, people will use your product, people will be willing to pay the price that you fix for the product, etc.

The MVP is central to a new product development as it helps in mimicking scientific methods though not in the labs but on the market. It helps in putting business ideas to the test, the outcome of which can be used in further developing the product on a large scale or dropping the idea totally altogether. The MVP testing has to go on as a process. How to go about it, is what we will be seeing here.

Given below is the process in which MVP testing works best. Businesses that have new product development ideas can go through this process to see whether their products can succeed in the market.
Step 1: Identification the assumptions related to the product
Step 2: Focus on the assumptions that carry the biggest risk
Step 3: Determine how to test your assumptions with the product that you design which is the MVP by itself
Step 4: Determine the hypothesis for the Minimal Viable Product
Step 5: Do the testing
Step 6: Review the results of the tests thus conducted
Step 7: Integrate the derived results into the next test
Step 8: Based on the results thus derived conduct another test and repeat the process till you gain derive at the results that you want to achieve.

There are many who feel that the entire MVP testing is hazy but the truth of the matter is that not many understand that this has to be done as a step by step process. Most entrepreneurs who practice lean start-ups ignore the other steps involved in the process and focus just on the MVP alone. This will never provide accurate information. You will be able to get useful results only when you embed the MVP into a larger process.

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