What is MVP and why is it important before a product feature release?
Hello busy folks! Are you ready to set sail on the seas of product development? Well, before you pull up your anchor and embark on your journey, there’s something you need to know i.e. MVP.
But what is MVP, you ask? No, it’s not the Most Valuable Player in a sports league (although that’s important too!). In the world of product development, MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product and that’s the topic for today’s blog. Let’s deep dive into one the most important concepts of Product Development.
What is MVP?
The concept of MVP is simple: it’s a basic version of your product that has just enough features to satisfy early customers and get feedback for future development. So, before developing any feature in your product, it is advisable to test the MVP version of that freature. Think of it as a test run before the big show. It’s like trying out your new recipe on a small group of friends before serving it to a crowd.
Why is MVP important?
Well, there are many reasons why we should focus on MVP of any feature.
First and foremost, it allows you to test your product idea without spending a fortune on development. By creating a basic version of your product, you can get it into the hands of early adopters and see how they respond. This can help you identify any flaws or areas that need improvement before investing too much time and money into a full-scale launch.
Secondly, MVP allows you to prioritise features and make informed decisions about what to include in your final product. By getting feedback from early adopters, you can see which features are most important and focus on those. This can save you time and money in the long run, as you won’t waste resources on features that customers don’t really care about.
Finally, MVP can help you build a loyal customer base from the very beginning. By involving early adopters in the development process, you can create a sense of ownership and loyalty that can carry over to your final product.
So, we saw why MVP is important. Now, let me walk you through some of the MVPs that we tried in CuriousJr App which is an EdTech application for K12 Kids that teaches coding to kids.
Quiz Feature
So we at CuriousJr were looking for a way to keep our users engaged and motivated in their learning. We wanted a feature with instant gratification, something that would make their little hearts skip a beat with excitement.
And so, we set our eyes on having a Daily Quiz feature on our app where the users will learn by participating in Daily Quiz, took a gamble on this feature, and our MVP was a simple quiz on a Google Sheet. And we manually publish the leadboard on our app. We wanted to see if our young sailors would take the bait and show interest in this feature.
And guess what? It turned out to be a success! We even gathered insights from our audience on how to make it better, and with a few tweaks and the addition of a leaderboard, the quiz was launched as a full-fledged feature.
Community
At CuriousJr, we were set on creating a community of young coders. We wanted to build a place where young coders could connect with other coders from their own city or school, share their achievements, talk about the latest tech updates, and even code a project together.
We took a page out of our own book to start an MVP. Intention was to see if our young sailors would show interest in this community idea or not.
With lots of discussions we launched WhatsApp and Discord groups as our community MVP. With minimal effort, we set up these groups for our young users to connect and communicate. And you wouldn’t believe it, these groups were a hit! They ran successfully for over a year, and we at CuriousJr gathered all kinds of insights and ideas from our young users.
We took all that feedback and turned it into a treasure of a feature! We launched our very own CuriousJr Coding Club in our app. With this feature, young coders can connect with fellow coders, track their achievements, and even code a project together. Arrr, now that’s what basic MVP can do!
Conclusion
MVP may be small, but it’s mighty. It can help you test your product idea, prioritise features, and build a loyal customer base. So before you set sail on your product development journey, make sure you create an MVP to steer you in the right direction.
Do give a clap 👏 if you find this blog helpful.
Thanks for Dropping By!
Raunaq
