Minimum Viable Product
Use minimum viable product to avoid creating products or services that nobody wants
What is a minimum viable product (or service)?
The minimum viable product (MVP) or minimum viable service (MVS) is the version of the team’s product or service which includes the most important parts that the customer expects and demands. After the Design team has thoroughly tested their ideas, collected feedback, and iterated on their product or service to arrive at a near-final product, the team will want to take steps to transition from designing to launching.
The MVP and MVS concepts have been popularized in Eric Ries’s book Lean Startup. In his book, Eric defines MVP as “…the version of a new product [or service] that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customer demand [and/or the business model] with the least amount of effort”. In other words, the product or service isn’t 100% perfectly designed, but is usable and aligned with the customer’s “must-have” requirements.
Although the Design team has conducted tests and feedback sessions throughout the Design process, it is critical that the team obtain a larger sample size to demonstrate the idea’s value proposition both in customer demand and benefit to the business. The primary focus of the MVP and MVS is to help businesses avoid prioritizing and building products and services that nobody wants.
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Understanding what the customer expects in a product or service is critical to a products success. By testing for Minimum Viable Product allows an organization see if a current product or service meets or exceeds customers expectations. This topic is a core concept of applying creative problem-solving through design thinking. To learn more about design, please visit our Introduction to Design Thinking Course.
The Design Thinking course teaches a creative problem-solving that will give any professional an advantage in their industry or career.
- Designers or Product Development professionals that are motivated to bring innovative new products and services to their business and customers.
- Consultants who want to offer their clients a model for applying creative problem-solving to help address business challenges.
- Human Resource professionals seeking to develop more human-centered solutions to support workforce members while driving higher levels of employee engagement.
- Members of Leadership who are wishing to gain competitive advantage by differentiating their business’s products and services.
- Individuals or Teams that are searching for new ways to solve complex problems by placing the customer’s needs at the center of their solutions.
This course will help expose the learner to various design thinking tools and mental models – all with the emphasis on innovating through creative problem-solving.
Our objective is to provide the learner with practical tools for applying a versatile 3-step design thinking process within their organizations. Through this framework, the learner will be able to reframe problems from the customer’s perspective. With this perspective in mind, the learner will drive improvements around the customer experience using tools such as deep-dive interview, journey mapping, empathy mapping, and rapid prototyping.
Need help introducing use of a Minimum Viable Product at your organization?
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