MVP App Guide: What Startups Should Know About MVPs

You've got a great business idea – now what? People might tell you to go raise money, hire a marketing team, or spend the next year building the perfect product.

Before you think about doing any of that you need to answer one simple question: Will anyone actually buy your product?

To answer this question, you'll want to conduct market research. You can collect feedback from potential customers by interviewing them, attempting to pre-sell to them, or watching them interact with your product's core functionality in the form of an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

We're here to talk about the last option – what an MVP is, how to build an MVP, and how to use an MVP to test potential demand. Keep reading to learn all about it!

MVP Basics

What Is an MVP?

An MVP, or minimum viable product, is the most basic version of a product that can still deliver value to users. In app development, an MVP app contains only the core features necessary to address the main user pain points.

Unlike prototypes or proofs of concept, MVPs are functional products that can be used by early adopters to generate valuable feedback. This approach allows startups to test their app idea with minimal investment and gather real customer feedback.

Key Benefits of MVPs

MVPs offer several advantages for startups, especially in the early stages of app development. These advantages include:

1. Faster time-to-market by focusing on core features.

2. Reduced upfront investment to expose users to a product idea.

3. Minimized risk of rework by establishing a feedback loop early.

4. Earlier revenue than a product that includes all the features.

Successful apps like Airbnb, Dropbox, and Uber all started as MVPs, demonstrating the power of this approach in building market-leading products.

### How MVPs Help Validate Your Product Idea

Market research plays an important role in your product launch. You can ensure you're building something people actually want by watching how your would-be customers interact with an early version of your product.

Your user feedback might tell you real users aren't interested in your product – that's OK! It's better to know that early so you can pivot to something your users *are* interested in. You can use your feedback and new customer relationships to learn what your target market would be interested in.

With an iterative development approach, you can take small steps and achieve better product-market fit. listening feedback from real users early and often.

How to Design and Build an MVP App

The MVP app development process typically involves four key stages: scoping, design, development, and user testing. Each stage plays a crucial role in creating a successful MVP that can effectively validate your app idea and provide valuable insights for future development.

The Importance of Scope Pre-Build

Your scope defines the requirements for your minimum viable product. These requirements include definitions for each core feature of your MVP and become the success criteria for your project.

A well-defined scope reduces the risk of rework by encouraging startup founders to agree on what's being built upfront. Less rework leads to cheaper and faster project completion.

Once your scope is defined, stick to it! The addition of more features throughout the project, known as scope creep, leads to higher project costs and slower delivery (exactly the things we're trying to avoid with an minimum viable product).

This targeted approach will allow you to build an MVP efficiently by focusing on essential features.

MVP Design Considerations

Your MVP design defines how your minimum viable product will deliver each core feature to you users. The design includes things like technology choices, user interface design, user journey planning, and more.

We recommend preferring the simplest choice that gets your MVP built here. Remember, your main goal is market validation as quickly as possible.

There is one exception to this recommendation related to the visual representation of your features. You should have the simplest visual design *that meets your users minimum quality expectations*.

For example, if your competitors all have well-polished user interfaces then your users will expect that level of quality from you. You generally don't have to out-design your competitors, but your MVP should have a user interface of similar quality.

MVP Development Process

Once you know what you're building, it's time to get started! Prioritize speed over strict process here. You should have *some* process, but avoid creating unnecessary overhead for yourself.

Many software development agencies use an agile methodology to work in "sprints". We like that this approach allows for frequent feedback and resetting priorities based on your startup's needs. Our style of working is similar, but tuned to meet the unique needs of our clients.

Whichever processes you choose to use, they should support the iterative development of your product. By focusing on one feature at a time, you can systematically work through your original scope and receive feedback sooner.

Gathering Feedback from Early Adopters

User feedback is the lifeblood of MVP development. By collecting and analyzing feedback from actual users, startups can shape the development of key features and inform future iterations. There are opportunities to collect feedback from active users both before and after launching.

Pre-launch, you can start an early-access program once your minimum viable product has enough functionality to be usable. People who sign up are generally enthusiastic early adopters who can give you valuable feedback as you add more features.

Post-launch, you can gather feedback using in-app surveys, user interviews, and analytics tools. Build a feedback loop that automatically collects, aggregates, and reports on this data. Staying informed ensures that your product evolves in line with user needs and market demands, increasing its chances of success.

MVP App Platforms: Choosing the Best Approach for Your Product

Code vs No-Code for MVPs

No-Code technology has come a long way in recent years and empowers many non-technical founders to build an MVP without hiring expensive software engineers. It can be much cheaper and faster to build with No-Code upfront if you have a simpler minimum viable product.

However, we find it generally isn't suitable for complex MVPs or MVPs that have higher performance requirements. In these cases, No-Code MVP app development can quickly become slower and more expensive than just coding it from scratch.

We generally prefer to build MVPs from scratch or start with an MVP template. Using code for your MVP typically has the following advantages:

1. Full ownership of all intellectual property your MVP app development produces.

2. Custom code allows for a more maintainable and flexible minimum viable product.

3. Improved reliability through automated testing.

4. Limited vendor lock-in and platform risk.

5. Controlled operational costs.

6. More options for cross-platform using both a web solution and mobile app.

Many startups will start with No-Code and migrate to custom MVP app development as they gain traction. Others adopt a hybrid approach, using custom code for their "secret sauce" and No-Code for the less important parts of their MVP.

Web Apps vs. Mobile Apps

One of the first decisions you'll make when building your app is how you'll distribute it to your users. Will they use it on a laptop or their phone? If they use it on their phone, will it be in a browser or a native mobile app?

Your app users will have their own expectations based on the other applications they interact with. You may have to do some extensive research to discover these biases.

Unless you have a good reason to build an MVP mobile app, we recommend starting with a web application because web apps have the following advantages:

1. A faster, simpler, and cheaper software development process.

2. Faster delivery of updates and bug fixes.

3. Accessible on any device with a browser.

4. Avoids app store fees and potentially limiting guidelines.

The most common reasons that we recommend mobile applications over web applications are:

1. Your app idea needs access to hardware on your user's device that isn't available through the browser.

2. Your target audience has such a heavy bias that they won't use anything except for a native application.

In most other cases, you're better off avoiding the added complexity and cost associated with mobile app development. Mobile app development tends to be more expensive, take longer, and have additional requirements when compared to web app development.

Platforms You Probably Shouldn't Pick For Your MVP

Since your main goal is to find product-market fit, keep your development team focused on that goal. You can distribute your app idea through the browser, the Google Play and App Stores, smart watches, and more! Pick the simplest platform for your app.

Having a well-defined scope will help here. Unfortunately, even if you know exactly what you want to build, you can still end up selecting the wrong platform.

For example, let's say you have an app idea that requires a user's location. You might be tempted to have your app developers build a native mobile app to access the GPS on your users' devices. However this would be likely be overkill because browsers can access location through the [Geolocation API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Geolocation_API).

Choosing the wrong platform can easily double or triple your software development and maintenance costs. That's why it's important to [get an expert opinion](richersystems.ca/contact) if you're not sure.

The Importance of Testing and Feedback in MVP Development

The two most important questions in software development are:

1. Are you building the right thing?

2. Are you building the thing right?

A successful app does both of these things. We've talked a lot so far about finding product-market fit to ensure we're building the right thing. There's more to building an MVP than that though.

MVPs are limited to essential features, but those features should be generally free of bugs and contribute to an intuitive user experience. Your app developers should relevant best practices to reliably deliver your MVP.

Testing ensures you're building the thing right and feedback ensures you're building the right thing.

Building the Thing Right: Automating Your Software Tests

Different types of tests serve various purposes in the development process. The three general categories of automated test are unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end (E2E) tests.

Unit tests verify individual components, integration tests check how different parts of the app work together, and end-to-end tests simulate real user scenarios. All of them help catch issues early and maintain product stability as you iterate on your MVP.

These tests can be run manually, but automating them ensures they're used and saves your app developers' time. Professional developers generally build automated test running into their workflow and software delivery pipelines.

There is debate around how many of each kind of test you need. We suggest creating a testing strategy that balances coverage and efficiency, focusing on critical user flows and core functionalities.

Build the Right Thing: Collecting User Feedback

User testing is essential for validating your MVP's core functionality and user experience. Observe how actual users interact with your product to gather valuable feedback on user flow, app performance, and overall satisfaction.

Techniques such as usability testing, A/B testing, and beta testing can provide insights into user behaviour and preferences. This information can be used to make sure your MVP meets user needs.

How to Succeed After Launch With MVP Maintenance

Launching your MVP is just the beginning of your product journey. Ongoing maintenance and updates are crucial for long-term success and user satisfaction.

What Happens to MVPs That Aren't Maintained

Neglecting maintenance can lead to decreased user satisfaction, performance issues, and accumulating technical debt. Without regular updates, your app risks losing its competitive edge and failing to meet evolving user needs.

Performance problems may arise, leading to a poor user experience and potential loss of active users. Additionally, unmaintained apps are more vulnerable to security threats, potentially compromising user data and trust.

How Much Maintenance an MVP Needs

The amount of maintenance required varies depending on the product and its underlying technologies. Common maintenance tasks include bug fixes, feature enhancements, performance optimization, and security updates.

Regular maintenance ensures your app remains stable, secure, and aligned with user expectations. The frequency and scope of maintenance activities should be tailored to your specific product and user base.

How to Plan for MVP Maintenance

To ensure successful long-term maintenance, allocate a portion of your budget specifically for ongoing updates and feature enhancements.

Use feedback from users and analytics tools to prioritize which updates and new features to implement first. Establish a regular schedule for rolling out updates, addressing bugs, and improving performance to keep your product stable and up-to-date.

This proactive approach to maintenance helps prevent technical debt from accumulating and ensures your app continues to meet user needs over time.

Revisiting Your Maintenance Plan Over Time

Your maintenance needs will change over time as your MVP and market conditions change.

For example, your MVP app will need more maintenance if it doubles in size. Or, if a piece of software your product depends on announces the version you depend on is going out of support. You'll need to plan to upgrade that dependency and fix any breaking changes before you're left behind.

You can avoid unexpected maintenance costs and limit the growth of your maintenance expenses by regularly revisiting your maintenance plan. We'd recommend checking in on it once per quarter, or anytime you make a significant pivot.

Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous MVP Improvement

Monitoring App Performance with Analytics

Use analytics tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs) during MVP app development. Monitor metrics such as user engagement, retention rates, and conversion rates to gain insights into your app's performance.

Identify pain points and areas for improvement by analyzing user behaviour data. Regularly review these metrics to inform your development decisions and prioritize feature enhancements.

Data-Driven Product Development

Leverage user data to make informed decisions about new features and updates. Use analytics to identify which features are most popular and which ones may need improvement or removal.

This data-driven approach can help improve the overall user experience and reduce costs by focusing resources on high-impact areas. Continuously gather and analyze data to guide your product roadmap and ensure your app evolves in line with user needs and market trends.

Using Analytics for Long-Term Growth

Analyze user behavior data to plan future iterations of your app and improve user flow. Use feedback loops and analytics together to drive ongoing MVP improvement and feature prioritization.

By monitoring user journeys and engagement patterns, you can identify opportunities to enhance retention and drive long-term growth. This data-driven approach helps ensure that your product continues to deliver value to users and stays competitive in the market.

Common Pitfalls in MVP Development and How to Avoid Them

Underdesigning Your MVP

This mistake leaves "viable" out of "minimum viable product". Underdesigning is what happens when you make your MVP too lean. As a result, you fail to translate your scope into a design that is competitive in your market.

Underdesigning leaves key features out, fails to product an intuitive user experience, or ignores strong preferences of your potential customers. This can lead to poor user experience, low engagement, and inaccurate feedback, as users may not fully grasp the value the product is meant to deliver.

To avoid underdesigning your MVP, gather user feedback to learn from as early as possible.

Choosing the Wrong Platform

As we mentioned earlier, choosing the wrong platform slows down your app developers and increases your costs unnecessarily. In the worst cases, it can cause your startup to fail by burning through your runway or eliminating your ability to move fast enough to react to feedback.

To avoid choosing the wrong platform, carefully consider your requirements and choose the simplest platform that works.

Technical Debt in MVP Development

Technical debt is development work that you'll need to do later because of a decision you've made. It's a normal part of every software development project, and totally harmless as long as it's managed.

However, if it's unmanaged it can slow or even halt your development progress.

Startups need to move quickly, so they often tend to make tradeoffs that favour speed. Unfortunately, downside of these tradeoffs can involve sacrifices in code quality, platform risk, or test coverage.

To avoid acquiring too much technical debt, keep track of it and manage it during your regular maintenance.

Overbuilding Your MVP

We all want to make the best products we can. This desire can lead to including more features than you need in your initial release.

These additional features take longer and cost more to deliver, increasing your time-to-market. For a startup trying to find product-market fit, this can be a potentially fatal problem.

To avoid overbuilding your MVP, prioritize features that directly address your target users' needs and contribute to your product's unique value proposition. Leave everything else out.

Poor Product Monetization Strategy

There are many monetization strategy options for startups to choose from. Freemium, subscriptions, pay-per-use, and flat rate are all popular pricing models.

To avoid poor monetization strategy, carefully consider how your minimum viable product delivers value, gather user feedback, and study what pricing models are working for competitors.

Unmanaged MVP Development Costs

Even budget options for MVP development can be expensive. For startups with a shrinking runway, everything is expensive. That's why it's important to manage these costs.

There are at least a few reasons you might find your MVP costs growing. The most common ones we see are:

1. Unnecessary scope creep.

2. Excessive numbers of meetings with your team or development agency.

3. Technical debt.

To avoid skyrocketing software development costs, stick to your scope and regularly review your expenses for growing or unnecessary costs.

Forgetting About Product Maintenance

Many startups overlook the importance of ongoing maintenance when planning their MVP. Like a car that never gets its oil changed, unmaintained products eventually develop problems that can be costly to fix.

To avoid forgetting about product maintenance, include it in your initial budget and development plans. Scheduling regular maintenance will keep your app running smoothly and ensure it continues to meet user needs.

Conclusion: Why Startups Should Consider MVPs in 2024

In today's fast-paced startup ecosystem, MVPs remain a useful tool for validating app ideas and achieving product-market fit. By focusing on core features and leveraging user feedback, startups can build products that truly resonate with their target audience. The MVP approach allows for faster time-to-market, reduced risk, and more efficient use of resources.

As we move further into 2024, the importance of MVPs in app development is only set to grow. With rapidly evolving technologies and changing user expectations, the ability to quickly test and iterate on product ideas is more valuable than ever. By embracing the MVP approach, startups can stay agile, responsive to market needs, and ahead of the competition.

To stay competitive in 2024 and beyond, consider starting your journey with an MVP app. If you're ready to bring your idea to life with expert MVP development, contact Richer Systems. We can help you navigate the MVP development process and create a successful product that meets your business goals and user needs.