The MVP development process can be a daunting one. You want to ensure that you are getting the most out of your time and money with MVP development, but how do you know if it is worth doing at all?
This blog post will answer some of the first questions you need to ask yourself about your MVP and the most obvious questions on MVP development options, cost, time frames, technology stacks, and finding the right development team for the same.
Table of Contents
- What is the purpose of MVP?
- What are the top questions to ask about your MVP?
- How do I plan to create an MVP?
- How do you hire MVP development teams?
- Conclusion
What is the purpose of MVP?
MVP development is about taking the next step in your product strategy. MVP stands for "minimum viable product." MVPs are often used when a company wants to test their business idea before going all-in and funding more expensive projects such as developing an app or building a website. This approach helps businesses validate their assumptions about new products without investing heavily in them upfront. It also means minimal time spent on unnecessary features as more feedback can be gathered quicker by testing larger segments than MVPs with a smaller number of customers. MVP development is an iterative process that measures feedback from early adopters and adjusts the MVP to meet their needs as well as future ones.
What are the top questions to ask about your MVP?
Questions You Should Ask Yourself
1.Who is the Product targeted for (Buyer Persona)?
For example, if you were creating MVP software aimed at senior citizens with low vision then brighter colors that stand out more would make sense. It's worth considering what type of person will use your final version and ways in which they might interact with some features before starting any work on your app development company.
2.What problem will the product solve?
This MVP development question is about being clear on the problem you are trying to solve and what your product will do to help. MVPs function as a way to "fail fast" so it's important that the MVP solves an issue worth solving.
3.What alternative solutions exist in the Market?
It is essential, especially if going through MVP development, to consider other products that could accomplish the same goal. MVP software development is about testing assumptions with early adopters and if there are better or more popular alternatives in your industry then you're wasting time trying to make something new and improved when it's not needed.
4.How is your product unique and different?
This MVP question may be the most difficult one but is also key for MVP development success. You need a strong idea of what makes your app stand out from competitors while solving an issue worth solving as described above. It needs to solve a problem people have experienced (that isn't solved by any currently existing apps) which does not require too much work before launch - otherwise, all effort has been wasted on features without enough validation
Also how different or unique is your MVP from these alternatives? Keep in mind both real-world differences (a new flavor of potato chips) and technical ones (the newest digital signal processing chip).
5.What are the main features that are needed to test the market?
The MVP development process involves identifying the features that are needed to test your idea and gauging customer response. MVPs are not meant to be a fully-fledged version of the final product so features should only include those that are necessary for MVP development. MVPs are also not meant to be a finished product so MVP development is about measuring customer response and adjusting the MVP accordingly.
How do I plan to create an MVP?
Before you decide whether MVP is the right path for your product, it's important to do some in-depth research and really think about what MVP options should I consider when developing a new software project/product.
1.The first step should be determining whether your MVP will fit into one of four main categories:
Lean MVP - This MVP focuses on minimal features that will allow a user or customer to experience part of the core value proposition from the business. It may not include many bells and whistles but still has enough content to provide feedback on which aspects are most valued by customers. This approach usually involves an iterative development process with each iteration providing more functionality than before while also getting closer to an ideal solution.
Market Validation MVP - In this model, you validate assumptions by testing them out in beta form prior to making the MVP product public. This MVP is more of a marketing tool as you are trying to see what your target market will respond well to before investing in development and production costs for a full release.
Prototyping MVP - In this approach, an MVP is often created by developing a prototype that can be used to validate key assumptions about the viability of your idea or concept without needing to invest time or money into actually building it out fully. It may only take hours or days rather than weeks or months and provides valuable insight on whether there's an opportunity worth pursuing with further investment in design, coding, etc.
Utility MVP �These MVPs are often used as test-beds for new features and ideas that may not yet require public releases such as internal beta testing, alpha, or early adopter releases to validate assumptions. It is meant for quick feedback, not necessarily market validation. This MVP might be the simplest of all MVPs but can also have a broad range in terms of functionality
2.Finding early adopters
The next step in MVP software development is getting your idea out there and finding early adopters. This will help you focus on what customers want from your app, which can change over time as they use it more and provide feedback about their experience with the MVP in this iteration stage - it's important to keep updating during the MVP software development process because people won't stay engaged if you don't meet their needs. Once you've identified who is interested enough in your new MVP app to test it with you, the MVP development process moves into a refinement stage where feedback is gathered from them and their experience tested.
3.Choosing your Outsourcing Strategy/technical partner
Once you finalize the type of MVP and who your audience is, you want to go ahead with the next step would be developing your outsourcing strategy. There are three ways in which you can work on your MVP software:
Outsource MVP Development Company- Outsourcing this process means that someone else will handle all of the hard work for you, from strategy and planning through design and implementation. This option provides more flexibility as it's likely less costly than hiring entire teams internally but outsourced companies may have limited experience with SDK integration or open APIs.There are different ways you can outsource your MVP software Development.
Skills Needed :
- Project Manager
- Business Analyst
- UI/UX Designer
- Back-End Developer
- Front-End Developer
- Quality Assurance Engineer
Partial outsourcing of technical resources- This MVP development approach combines a mix of internal and external resources. The strategy is to outsource technical components that are difficult or expensive for your company to develop internally while keeping tasks related to product design, marketing, etc in-house.
Hire Internally- If you're looking at internal options then there are two main routes - hiring individual developers (the most expensive route) or hiring an MVP Development team.
4.Your tech partner/ development team will then help you with:
- Wireframes - wireframing MVP design starts with research before building anything in code. This includes determining who will use the product, how they might interact with it as well as what problem you are solving for them. The objective here is to capture all assumptions about this MVP before writing any lines of code so there's less need to change direction once coding begins
- Mockups - similar to wireframes, mockup MVP design makes use of digital tools to generate MVPs without any coding or development. This is the best MVP design route for when you have a good understanding of what your MVP will do and are just looking for some wireframes to illustrate how it would work
- Prototypes - this MVP software design approach starts with low fidelity sketches that focus on functionality rather than appearance. The goal here is to quickly iterate over different ideas until deciding on which direction should be developed further in order to assess customer response. This is done when you don't have enough time or money to invest in making something perfect from scratch before presenting it to stakeholders and investors.
5.Testing from customers
The MVP development process comes to a head when the MVP is tested with customers in order to facilitate feedback and further iteration. This testing stage will be different depending on what your MVP software does but it's typically done through beta tests or surveys - you'll usually find out if people are willing to pay for your product, which features they use the most as well as their thoughts about UX/UI design.
Questions To Ask Your Technical Partner
How long does it take to create an MVP?
The answer to this will be best answered by your technical partner/software development team based on your MVP. The MVP development process generally speaking can vary depending on what type of style you are looking for and the amount of time you want to spend in development before getting feedback from your market. A lean MVP could be created as quickly as a few days, whereas a more high-end product may take weeks, months, or even years. Your partners will know which approach to take based on the type of MVP.
What technology Stack should I use for my MVP?
Your MVP software development team or technical partner can best answer this question based on which technology stack will best suit your MVP. Generally speaking, some MVPs may only require basic programming knowledge, while others could be more complicated in nature. In general, lean MVPs usually involve an HTML/CSS framework with minimal coding required or an open-source platform like WordPress where someone can easily edit the site to suit their needs. Market validation MVPs often need Java, Python, or Ruby programming languages because they can provide valuable feedback from beta users without needing any custom changes done to it before release. MVPs that are used to test a website or mobile app will typically involve HTML, CSS, and JS. MVP development teams may also need to use popular frameworks for MVP software such as Bootstrap (HTML/CSS), Django CBV Framework (Python), or Ruby on Rails framework. MVP's for mobile may use Swift for iOS or Kotlin for Android
How much does it cost to develop an MVP?
Here again, your technical partner will need to assess the cost based on the development process, the development team size ( time and money), etc. In general, MVPs are faster to develop than a more fully-fledged product but may be pricier because they involve more upfront investment from the developer - usually before any users or customers have been reached.
There are other factors that determine the total cost of an MVP :
- What type of application are you planning to develop? Web, mobile, or both? Which platforms: App Store for iOS; Google Play for Android; Windows Store or Chrome web browser with HTML5 features supported either by default or installed as a plug-in (Opera 12).
- Number and complexity of features.
- Uniqueness and complexity of the design.
- Number and complexity of integrations with third-party systems (e.g., ERP, accounting software, DMS; one-way or two-way integration).
- MVP performance, availability, security, latent capacity, and scalability requirements.
- Migration to maintain existing data (for custom enterprise software MVP).
- Location of the MVP development team (US, Europe, Asia) in case of outsourced development.
Also, it depends entirely on how extensive you would like your MVP software development team to work with. Here is an approximate cost table according to the type of MVP development you want to develop.
Type SmallMedium Large Healthcare Applications - Web, Mobile, Cloud, HIPAA 35K-60K 50K-100K 100K-200K Consumer Apps(Uber, Airbnb, DoorDash etc) 50K-100K 100K-150K 150K-250K Finance / Banking Apps 60K-80K 80K-130K 130K-200K E-commerce Marketplace 35K-60K 50K-100K 100K-200K Enterprise Software(CRM, ERP, Analytics) 60K-80K 80K-130K 130K-200K
How can MVP Development Teams (such as yours) help me?
An MVP team will be able to take your idea or concept from conception all the way through to production, ensuring that you have a product that is tailored to meet customer requirements with minimal cost and effort for both parties involved. They also include other resources such as project managers, designers, software engineers, and QA specialists who work together - rather than independently - to provide an end-to-end solution for developing MVPs quickly without sacrificing quality. You'll find them especially beneficial if this is your first time working on an MVP because they understand the industry well enough to give valuable input and advice on how you can best invest your time to meet MVP development goals.
Questions Your Technical partner will ask you
Keep answers to these questions ready before you meet with your technical team.
-What is the initial MVP user base or Buyer Persona?
- What is your MVP's goal? Core value proposition
- Is this a feature, utility, or app you're developing an MVP for?
-What features are the most important and the ones that are least important at this stage.
-Market validation MVP or not?
- How will you measure the success of your MVP upon release?
-If the product is successful, how will you scale?
-Who will take care of the digital ecosystem after the development is completed.
-What are the requirements for data storing and data deletion in your sphere?
-Do you have regulatory requirements in your market?
How do you hire MVP development teams?
MVP developers come in all shapes and sizes so it's important to research which type of MVP development company�best suits your needs.
MVP development teams can be hired for a range of rates and projects, depending on the type or style you are looking for. Low-end MVPs may only require basic programming skills so they could find someone to do this work without any coding experience needed from online sources like Upwork (formerly oDesk). If your MVP software needs more complexity in terms of updates then it will take more time and money but doesn't necessarily need specialized skills which are when an Uber developer might come into play - these developers typically have multiple skill sets that they offer clients with their services ranging from $30-$60/hour. A higher-end MVP would involve hiring a full-stack engineer who has extensive expertise across all aspects of app development including design, frontend, and backend. MVP software development teams can be found locally, nationally, or internationally. You can start researching from company websites in your location that has years of experience in developing MVPs ( such as Cabot Technology Solutions Inc) or hire companies who offer services through connections, referrals, or even personal recommendations from clients they have worked with before.
Conclusion:
To conclude, MVP development is an important part of the product life cycle process and should be used when you need to test a new idea before investing in it. It's ideal for companies looking at their options on how they can use technology to improve customer interaction or those who are unsure about whether there is enough demand for their MVP software before releasing it into more markets.
If your business needs help with any aspect of developing MVPs, Cabot Technology Solutions has all the answers you're looking for! Contact us today and see what we have available that could ensure well with your company goals. Cabot MVP development services are tailored to assist startups and entrepreneurs in developing scalable and marketable solutions.