Published on March 15th, 2023
I’m certain that you or someone else you know came up with an innovative idea for an app at some point. Perhaps you’ve dreamed of creating the next billion-dollar app, like Instagram as well as Tiktok.
Of course, that thought remains a dream in your mind until you decide to bring it to reality.
This is where MVPs come into the picture.
MVPs let you build an initial version of your application as fast as possible. It is designed to answer one crucial question: can my app idea be successful in the world of reality?
There are plenty of apps around the globe but only a few of these are useful. MVPs let you know which ones are.
What is an MVP?
An MVP, also known as a minimum viable product also known as an MVP is a minimal version of your application that only includes the essential functions.
An MVP’s primary function is to evaluate the efficacy of your application. It is a way to see if there’s a real need for your app from real users, or whether your solution is effective.
There’s a reason why popular apps such as Facebook or Airbnb all began as MVPs — it is effective.
Utilizing an MVP is an excellent method to create apps that are successful through iterative development.
An MVP can rapidly gather feedback about a new feature you’d like to add that you can then integrate quickly into your next release.
Repeating this process several times will allow you to fine-tune your app concept by removing the problems through each iteration.
To cover these benefits it’s essential to create MVPs efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. This way, if your app concept didn’t work it’s not because you put enough resources into it.
MVP attributes
For an MVP to be considered the MVP it must possess these traits.
- The first is that it includes all of the fundamental features essential to communicate the primary idea behind the app. It allows users to test your app, and provide accurate and precise feedback.
- For example, Spotify began as a desktop-only MVP that offered only an uncomplicated music streaming service.
- An MVP should be able to provide value. Even the roughest and most rushed release of the application should still meet the promise of the app’s core.
- Be aware that an MVP may assist in converting early adopters, provided you use it correctly.
- An excellent illustration is the MVP for the app that delivers groceries Instacart.
- At first, its founder Apoorva Mehta didn’t have the funds to construct the comprehensive backend for his app.
- As a last resort, Mehta manually bought and delivered the items to customers who placed orders via the app.
- The idea was to use a bootstrap method of working however it did work. The app users were unaware that it was happening behind the scenes.
- This allowed them to assess the system fairly as if the backend were present.
- An MVP must indeed be cost-effective. That is, it requires the most time and money to build it.
- For example, for instance, the Spotify MVP we discussed above only took four months to create.
Finally, an MVP should be recommended to be considered the basis of the final application. It should allow you to improve your app over time and add new features to it as you progress.
Importance of MVP In the Mobile App Development Process
We now know what MVP stands for and the things it can do. The next question is: why should you build it? It can provide you with many benefits.
1. Verifying the viability of the product
The main reason for creating the MVP can be testing the idea of an app within the actual world.
Everyone believes that their app will be a huge success. Some ideas may sound good on paper. However, it is those who use it that will decide this.
It’s a shame that many developers aren’t doing this nearly as well. The primary reason why the majority of apps fail is that there’s not a clear need for them.
2. The most common causes of app Failure
MVPs are among the quickest, most affordable, and most efficient ways to avoid such a situation.
If you’ve launched an MVP and you see enough users use it, it’s a good indication that there’s a market for your app concept.
However, if it doesn’t? At least you didn’t put so much effort and time into an app development project that ended up becoming an unreachable failure.
And while building an MVP costs money–estimated to be around $15,000–$50,000–the expense of building a complete app is relatively higher.
You can also go back to your drawing board to improve your ideas.
Because not only will an MVP help you determine whether your app is viable or not, but it also can tell you how you can enhance your app.
3. Receiving feedback from customers
MVPs are an excellent source of user feedback on your app Both qualitative and quantitative.
This is essential because it lets you modify your app and then release updates more quickly. This will result in greater quality with more users and more revenues.
Here are the most common metrics that you can employ to evaluate your MVP.
- Word of mouth
- Engagement
- Sign-Up
- Better appraisals of clients Based on feedback
- The percentage of users who are active
- Cost of acquisition for the client (CAC)
- Paying users
- Client lifetime value (CLV)
- Churn rate
If, for instance, you observe that your proportion of active users exceeds your expectations, that’s an excellent indicator that your idea is appealing enough. It could be a sign that you’ve added the appropriate core attributes.
If your churn rate increases consistently, it means that your application isn’t sufficient to stay in the minds of customers. There could be a problem regarding the UI design or with a fundamental feature.
MVPs are also able to offer you reviews directly from their users. This can be the best feedback you can receive.
A majority of the time the users will inform you precisely what they dislike about your app, so you can address it as soon as possible.
4. Identifying bugs
There’s no way to publish software that is 100 100% bug-free, regardless of how competent your team is.
Even a large firm such as Google released a flawed product that was prone to an incredibly serious glitch in the year 2016.
The goal should not be to release an error-free application, but rather to correct it as soon as you can after launch. This is where an MVP could help tremendously.
Recognizing and fixing major problems early can result in a more secure and stable app. This prevents more users from deleting their accounts or leaving bad reviews which can harm your app.
An MVP could also in reducing the cost of fixing these bugs. This is built on the 1-10-100 rule:
Based on this principle that it’s 100x more costly fixing a defect in the final product, once it’s been launched.
However, MVPs can provide an opportunity to exploit a loophole. Yes, they’re launched however it’s not the ultimate product. This means that you can spot problems and fix them at less cost.
Important Article: A Step-By-Step Guide to Build a Minimum Viable Product
Types of MVP In the Mobile App Development Process
There are two primary MVP categories: high and low quality.
Low-fidelity MVPs are what they can call counterfeit MVPs. This is because they don’t do any background work. They’re instead employed to evaluate demand.
An example of this is an example would be a fake website that advertises an online subscription service. If people sign up for it and sign-up, it will only lead to the thank you or blank page and doesn’t do anything.
The idea is to see whether enough users are willing to sign-up before taking the plunge into full app development.
Another type of MVP and the one we’re looking at is High-Definition MVP. It’s a real and functional (if restricted) edition of your application.
Its goal is to test the application’s capabilities against actual users.
Let’s look at additional categories of high-fidelity MVPs that you can make use of.
1. Single-feature MVP
Single-feature MVP is precisely what the name implies. It only has one feature that would be beneficial to try out against the users of your business.
Of all the MVP kinds it’s one of the most simple to set up because you’re focused on a single thing. It’s also the most straightforward to explain to customers.
Single-feature MVPs can be useful when you’re certain that you understand the core feature of your app. For example, check out the way Uber came up with their first MVP in the early part of 2010.
At this stage, Uber founders Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp already knew the distinctive selling point of their app, which allows users to book rides via their smartphones.
The MVP of the app did just one thing, it allowed users to input their addresses in the application. The app will contact the closest taxi driver and direct them to the location of the user.
Since their MVP was focused solely on the fundamental idea they were able to gather useful feedback.
They then tweaked and added additional features, making Uber the application that we use now.
Similar to Uber Single-feature MVPs provide a solid foundation on which to create your application.
2. Concierge MVP
Concierge MVP is operated exclusively by humans. This is beneficial when you’re looking to test advanced features of your app but don’t have the time and money to build them fully.
As an example, let’s say you’re testing an online dating application. Instead of creating the matching algorithm within your MVP, the recommendations are made by a human being working in the background.
Perhaps one of the most well-known apps that began as an online hotel concierge MVP was Airbnb.
The creators of Airbnb were looking to test their app they made use of their home as a model listing.
Then they put together an online site to see if anyone might be interested. They were able to get three customers who paid which proved their theory.
Of course, the current Airbnb app is running automatically thanks to the use of machine learning and AI on the back.
All of it wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for a simple hack to test their concept.
The most significant benefit of concierge MVP is its cost and speed. The Airbnb example shows it was a minimal investment to build their website.
But, be ready to put more effort into the back end.
Also, you must ensure that the human part in the concierge MVP is skilled enough to provide service that is comparable to the one you’d like to see in the final application.
3. Wizard of Oz MVP
This Wizard of OZ MVP is like the Concierge MVP in the sense that a person is responsible for an app’s automated features. However, in this instance, the user isn’t aware of the app.
One of the best examples of an MVP is the first website of the online shoe retailer Zappos.
From the perspective of the user From the point of view of the customer, the Zappos website functioned as any other e-commerce website. You can purchase a pair of shoes on the internet, and they will arrive a couple of days after.
The users were unaware that the site didn’t have a control system or inventory system. Everything is handled manually behind the scenes by founder Nick Swinmurn.
Then, he snapped photos of his local shop and put the photos onto his website.
If someone wanted to request this item Nick was able to physically visit the shop, purchase the shoes, and deliver them to the client.
The bootstrapped function of the MVP enabled Nick to verify his idea without needing to build an application from scratch. If you’re using Wizard of Oz MVP, you can too. Wizard of Oz MVP, you can too.
4. Piecemeal MVP
A fragmented MVP makes use of existing tools products, services, and tools to create an application to test, rather than creating it entirely from the ground up.
The primary benefit of doing this is speed. It is possible to create a sophisticated MVP that has every bell and whistle, without having to spend a lot of time on it.
And based on the equipment you utilize and the tools you use, it could also be economical.
Groupon is without doubt one of the finest examples of an individual MVP.
The first site was created with a basic edition of WordPress.
If someone bought deals from their fake website, they could utilize FileMaker for creating a PDF. This was then automatically sent to customers via the Apple Mail script.
It was a concocted MVP certainly however, it offered more control than a wizard or concierge of Oz MVP.
But the most important part is that it was successful to validate the concept at a minimal cost and speed.
Related Article: An Ultimate Guide Plan to MVP Software Development
Do you have plans to build an MVP For Mobile App Development?
The reality is that developing an MVP is challenging–sometimes more so than the final app!
The main challenge is to balance the value of the feature as well as development times. It’s also a challenge to determine the features you want to include in the way that people consider.
If you require more assistance and advice, contact iTechnolabs to know about MVP App development methods to provide you with an understanding of the process involved.
