Common mistakes in developing MVP

See our lecture via the link

MVP is a version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.

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The most important thing is to make MVP:

• Lean. Less money and fewer people.
• About customers. Not about features.
• Valuable. MVP should be a basic but complete version of a product.

Mistakes that we and other teams made and solutions to them:

1. Launched an unchecked idea.

Solution is to research. Get to know your audience, their problems, how they solve them, who is your competitors, etc.

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2. Loved the solution and not a customer.

Solution is to learn about your client. Ask yourself “Does my client need this product/service/feature? What proof do I have?”

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3. Spent time on branding without developing business model.

Solution is to focus on simpler things. Prioritize functionality and use less resourceful tools like SaaS solutions for fast branding or platforms with design templates, etc.

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4. Didn’t identify success criteria.

Solution is analytics. Choose KPIs from analytics that will tell that MVP is successful: leads, conversions, time spent on the website/app, etc.

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5. Forgot about feedback.

Solution is to constantly speak with your audience. Engage early adopters in MVP and ask for feedback. Try to find out if MVP is relevant to customers and is beneficial to them.

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6. Spent time automating the processes.

Solution is to make sure the automation is necessary. If you can do some work by yourself without spending time and money on software to automate, you better do it that way. Then when your MVP is working and you’re ready to scale it, you can automate everything you need.

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7. Started development when it’s not necessary.

Solution is to use no-code services. It will save you money and time in MVP stage of the project.

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