what is an mvp

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a version of a product with enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development. The purpose of an MVP is to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least amount of effort. By releasing an MVP, developers can potentially avoid lengthy and unnecessary work and instead iterate on working versions and respond to feedback, challenging and validating assumptions about a products requirements. An MVP can be part of a strategy and process directed toward making and selling a product to customers. The process of creating an MVP involves idea generation, prototyping, presentation, data collection, analysis, and learning. The primary benefit of an MVP is that it allows a company to gain an understanding of customer interest in a product without fully developing the product. However, a common pitfall is that teams use the term MVP without fully understanding its intended use or meaning. To be strategic in deciding which limited functionality to include in an MVP, companies can base these decisions on their business objectives and the specific solutions they want their product to offer users.