When starting a green-field project, one of the most important things to start with is defining the MVP (minimum viable product). Once the MVP is defined then the scope of the project can be identified.
By having a concrete idea of the MVP for a software product, it helps ensure that each function and feature is adding towards the MVP. Having been part of a few green-field projects, I want to talk about some things to consider when trying to define the MVP.
What is a Minimum Viable Product
An MVP in the context of this post is a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of learnings about the customers with the least effort. The MVP helps release a product that can be continually improved on by validating or invalidating assumptions based on what the users actually want. In short, an MVP helps you quickly get to market and further iterate your software application to better serve the needs of your customers.
What Is the Business Needs
Before starting a project because it is new and shiny, you will need to identify why the product should exist in the first place. In most cases, it is either an organizational need or a customer need that addresses a current gap. Once the reason to have the application is flushed out, you will want to define the long-term goal of the product. In addition, you will want to identify the success criteria to determine if the product is successful. Usually, it will consist of multiple metrics.
Map out the Flow of User Journeys
A good way to map out the flow of a user journey is to split it into three parts: the user, user actions, and story ending.
The user(s) are the ones who will be using the product. They can be end users, business employees, and or other third parties associated with your business. Once you have your users, it is time to identify the action (jobs) they need to reach their goal when using the product. Lastly, for each user, there will be a story ending (end goal). Depending on the user it would be different.
When using user journeys to help plan your MVP, it is good to consider which user has the most actions/jobs. By targeting your MVP towards the user with the most jobs, you’ll be able to add a high level of value with the least amount of effort. In some cases, there are users that are a higher priority and in such a case the MVP should address them instead.
Create a List of Pains and Gains for Each Action
From the user journey, you have identified users and their actions. So, now it’s time to dive deeper by identifying the pain points the user will face for each action and what value is achieved when the pain is addressed.
This is an important step that shouldn’t be overlooked because it helps to identify what has the greatest potential to add value. In respect to MVP, the outcome of the exercise will help identify what should come first in the roadmap of the product.
Decide on the Features to Build
In this stage, you have already figured out the business needs, map out a user journey, and analyzed pain points and gains for resolving each pain point. So, you and your team probably have a fairly good idea of what features need to be built, but not necessarily the order in the product roadmap.
To assist with prioritization of features, you can use a prioritization matrix.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.
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