How to Build a Minimum Viable Product
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Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) means creating the simplest version of your product that still delivers core value to users. An MVP lets you test your idea quickly and at lower cost in the real world, so you can learn what works before investing in a full-fledged product. This guide will walk you through the process of building an MVP step by step.
Step 1: Define the Problem You’re Solving
Start by clearly identifying the problem or need that your product will address. Ask yourself critical questions to make sure the problem is real and worth solving:
What exactly is the pain point? Describe the problem in simple terms.
Who is this problem affecting? (We’ll dive deeper into the audience in the next step.)
Why is this problem important to solve? Are people actively seeking a solution or frustrated by it?
Are there existing solutions? If yes, what are their shortcomings? Knowing your competitors helps you understand how you can stand out.
Do a bit of market research here. Talk to potential users or observe discussions (online forums, social media) to gauge how common and severe the problem is. The goal is to ensure your idea addresses a genuine need and isn’t just based on assumptions. Before spending months building something, determine whether the product is worth creating at all. If you find that your idea is trying to solve too broad a problem or one that nobody is desperate to fix, you may need to refine the idea. It’s better to “find the right door before crafting the key”, meaning identify a specific problem and audience so your solution can be a perfect fit.
Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience
An MVP is only useful if it’s built for a specific group of users. After defining the problem, pinpoint who exactly has that problem. Identify your target audience or early adopters:
Define a user persona: For example, “Tech-savvy college students who need an affordable way to manage their finances” or “Busy parents looking for healthy 30-minute recipes.” Be as specific as possible.
Ensure the problem matters to them: Verify that this group experiences the problem and is eager for a solution. If you try to target everyone, you will likely end up helping no one. Focusing on a specific segment gives you better feedback and a higher chance of meeting their needs well.
Talk to a few potential users: Early conversations or surveys with people in your target group can validate that they do have the problem and are interested in your idea. They might also tell you what an ideal solution would look like for them.
Keep your target audience in mind throughout the MVP process. As one guide puts it, designing for a particular user group yields high-quality feedback that will shape your product’s direction. This will help ensure your MVP resonates with real users, not just in your imagination.
Step 3: List Core Features (What to Build, What to Skip)
Now that you know what problem you’re solving and for whom, decide what your MVP will include. It’s tempting to dream up a product loaded with features, but a good MVP focuses only on the essential functionality that delivers your unique value.
A simple prioritization matrix can help decide which features to include in an MVP by weighing each feature’s impact (how much it solves the core problem) and urgency (how urgently it’s needed). High-impact, high-urgency features go into the MVP, while low-value extras can wait.
Make a list of all the features or capabilities your product could have. Then whittle it down to the core set of features that are necessary to solve the main problem:
Prioritize by value: Go through your feature list and label each item as a “must-have”, “nice-to-have”, or “later”. The must-have features are the heart of your MVP – without them, the product wouldn’t fulfill its purpose. Anything that is merely nice-to-have or unrelated to the primary problem can be left out for now.
Think from the user’s perspective: What does the user need to accomplish to solve their problem using your product? For example, if your MVP is a simple expense-tracking app, a must-have might be the ability to log expenses, whereas a fancy chart analytics feature can come later.
Avoid feature bloat: It’s better to have a few features that work well and truly help the user than a bunch of mediocre features. Always bear in mind that “minimum” doesn’t mean lowering quality. Your MVP should still be usable and valuable, with a focus on a couple of outstanding features rather than many flimsy ones.
By the end of this step, you should have a clear scope for your MVP: a short list of core features you will build, and a list of features you’re consciously choosing to skip for now. This discipline prevents you from wasting time on extras that don’t initially matter. Remember, you can always add more features later once the core idea is validated.
Step 4: Choose the Simplest Way to Build It
With your core features defined, think about the simplest, fastest way to create a working product. An MVP is not about perfection – it’s about getting something usable into the hands of real users quickly. Here are some strategies to simplify building your MVP:
Use existing tools or no-code platforms: You don’t always need to write custom code for your MVP. Many no-code/low-code solutions let you create software via drag-and-drop or configuration. For instance, you could build a basic web app using a tool like Bubble or a simple database app using Airtable. These can drastically cut down development time. An MVP may not require any code at all if you can assemble it with off-the-shelf tools.
Start with a prototype or mockup: If your product is complex, consider creating a clickable prototype or even a simple sketch of the user interface. This helps you test the concept with users before heavy development. Think of prototyping as an MVP to build the MVP; it helps visualize the user experience early. For physical products, a rough prototype (even handmade) can demonstrate the idea without a full production run.
“Wizard of Oz” approach (do it manually): This technique involves making the product appear fully automated or functional on the surface, but you manually perform the processes behind the scenes. For example, if you’re testing a delivery service idea, you might not build a complex app initially; instead, you could take orders via a simple Google Form and then personally manage the deliveries. The users get the experience of the service, while you save time by doing things manually in the background. Similarly, a Concierge MVP is one where users know you’re providing a hands-on service (not hidden by software). However, it still allows you to validate demand before investing in automation.
Leverage simple technology: If manual work isn’t feasible, choose the simplest tech stack or method that gets the job done. For a service business, maybe it’s just a landing page with an email signup. For a course or content product, it could be a single video or a small pilot session rather than a full series. The key is to avoid over-engineering: build just enough to demonstrate the core value.
By choosing a simple implementation, you save time and resources. You’re not cutting corners on the core value, but you are intentionally ignoring polish and secondary features. The MVP won’t be perfect, and that’s okay. However, ensure that whatever you build is functional and reliable in its basic task, and it should still provide a positive experience for those core features you decided on. Remember the MVP still needs to be “viable,” not just minimal.
Step 5: Launch to Early Users
With a basic product in hand, it’s time to put it in front of real users. The goal of launching an MVP is to test your solution in the real world, so you need actual users interacting with it. However, this won’t be a full-scale launch; you’ll start small:
Release to a limited audience: Consider a soft launch or beta release. This could mean inviting a select group of users to try your product, or releasing it in one geographic area or to a specific community first. By keeping the launch small, you can manage feedback and issues more closely. Early users often understand they’re using an MVP or beta product, and they’re more forgiving of imperfections.
Target your ideal early adopters: Ensure the people testing your MVP are those in your target audience. They are the ones who experience the problem and will provide the most relevant feedback. Avoid relying solely on friends and family for this stage unless they perfectly fit the user profile – feedback from people who aren’t your target customers can be misleading. It’s better to have 10 genuine potential customers testing your product than 100 people who will never actually need it.
Communicate and support: Let your early users know that this is an early version and that their feedback is crucial. Provide a channel for them to ask questions or report issues. This not only helps you gather insights, but it also makes users feel valued. For example, if you have a handful of beta users for your app, you might personally onboard them or check in after a few days to see how things are going. Such white-glove treatment can turn early adopters into strong supporters.
Keep the MVP lean: Resist the urge to add “just one more feature” before launch. No additional features should be in a minimal viable product beyond what you identified as core. If you’ve done Step 3 well, trust that your MVP has just what it needs for now. The point of the launch is to see if those features solve the problem and how users react.
Launching can be scary, but remember: the MVP is an experiment, not a final judgment on your idea. It’s better to launch early and learn than to delay trying to make things perfect. Even if it’s a simple landing page or a rough prototype in the hands of users, you are now entering the learning phase.
Step 6: Measure Feedback and Learn
Once your MVP is in use, pay close attention to the results. This step is all about collecting data and feedback to learn whether your assumptions were correct. In practice, this means looking at both quantitative data (numbers and metrics) and qualitative feedback (opinions, observations):
Track key metrics: Define what success looks like for your MVP and measure it. For example, if your goal is to see if people will use an expense app, track how many users sign up and how many entries they log each day. If it’s a physical product, maybe measure repeat orders or referrals. Numbers will show trends: how many people are using it, how often, and where they might be dropping off.
Gather user feedback: Reach out to your early users and ask about their experience. This can be done through surveys, interviews, or feedback forms built into your product. Encourage honesty – you want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. Questions to ask include: What did you like or find valuable? What frustrated you? Did the product solve your problem? Sometimes a user’s quote about what’s lacking or redundant is more enlightening than any metric.
Observe usage patterns: If possible, watch how users are using the product. You might discover, for instance, that users are unexpectedly using a feature, or they’re all stumbling at the same step of a process. These insights can reveal usability issues or missing functionality.
Document the learnings: Compile the data and feedback into a clear list of learnings. What hypotheses of yours were validated? (e.g., “Users do want an easier way to track expenses and found it useful.”) What assumptions were wrong? (e.g., “We thought users would love the social sharing feature, but no one used it.”) This is the “measure and learn” part of the Build-Measure-Learn cycle, and it’s crucial for guiding your next steps.
Throughout this process, be objective. It can be hard to hear criticism of your baby (the product), but every bit of feedback is a chance to improve. Review everything thoroughly after launching the MVP and collect your target audience’s feedback. From this, you can determine if the product is solving the problem and how it stacks up against any alternatives in the market. In short, listen to your users – they will show you where to go next.
Step 7: Iterate – Decide What to Build Next or Improve
After gathering feedback, you face an important question: What should you do next with your product? The MVP is not the end goal; it’s the beginning of an iterative process. In this step, you will use what you learned to make decisions and refine your product:
Address the feedback: Look at the issues and suggestions your early users had. Which ones are critical to solving the core problem or improving the user experience? For example, if many users said the app is confusing to navigate, your next move might be to fix the navigation before adding new features. Prioritize fixes or improvements that remove major pain points or enhance the core value.
Add features gradually: Recall the list of “nice-to-have” features you skipped earlier. Now is the time to consider if any of those should be included in the next version, based on user interest. If users are asking, “Can it also do X?” and X aligns with your vision and appears to provide value, you might plan to add it. However, continue to prioritize — you still want to keep the product as lean as possible at each iteration. Add new features one by one and see how they perform, rather than overloading the next version.
Consider pivoting if needed: Sometimes the feedback will tell you that the problem wasn’t solved, or perhaps the problem wasn’t the right one. If users didn’t find the MVP valuable at all, you might need to rethink your approach or target audience. This could mean a small adjustment or a major pivot (changing your product idea significantly). It’s better to pivot early with evidence than to persist in a direction that isn’t working.
Plan the next MVP iteration: Treat the next version of your product as MVP 2.0. Decide on a focused set of changes and go through the build and launch process again. Each cycle – often called the Build-Measure-Learn loop – should bring your product closer to what the market needs. As one expert notes, collect feedback, improve the product, then test again; repeat this process until the product is finalized. In other words, keep iterating until you achieve a product-market fit or a product that satisfies both users and your business goals.
Every time you iterate, you are reducing uncertainty. You’re making the product better informed by real-world data instead of guesswork. This step is where successful products pull ahead: by continuously refining the product based on real feedback, you ensure that you’re building something people want. Over time, your MVP will evolve from a minimal solution into a more robust product, guided at each step by what you’ve learned.
Building an MVP is a proven strategy to bring ideas to life with minimal risk. By defining a clear problem, targeting a specific audience, and focusing on the most important features, you set the stage for efficient learning. An MVP is all about learning by doing: you build something small, put it in users’ hands, and let their reactions guide you. This step-by-step approach helps you avoid pouring time and money into a full product that might miss the mark. Instead, you’re constantly tuning your direction based on real feedback.
Next Steps
Start small but smart. Solve one problem for one group of people in the simplest way possible. Then, use the feedback loop – Build, Measure, Learn – to iterate and make the product better and better. By following these steps, you’ll not only build a minimum viable product, but also build the right product eventually: one that truly meets your users’ needs.
Ready to transform your idea into a product people truly want? Book a strategy call with Rex Marketing and CX today. Whether you’re looking to try something new, refine your current approach, or strategize how to bring your product to market, we’re here to help you build, measure, and learn every step of the way.
