You’ve got a great idea, and you are ready to build your first app. Congratulations! But before you can build an app that is ready for the market, you’ve got to design an MVP. In this article, we’ll explore how to build an MVP for an app (and why!).
Why You Should Build an MVP for an App First
Contents
Before we delve into how to develop a minimum viable product (MVP), we should look at the reasons for creating a minimum viable product.
Minimum viable product development is the first version of the product built with only the core features that you’ll need to prove or validate your value proposition, e.g., the reason why your customers will download and use your app. You’ll use this MVP version to gather user insights during testing. Your users will be able to look at the MVP and tell you which features they like or don’t like or which features you should add to your product to be more valuable to them.
The information they give you will be used to improve (also known as iterate) your product. You probably have a lot of assumptions about your product; your MVP allows you to test your hypotheses.
Some of the benefits of this approach are:
1) It Helps You Focus on Your Customers
You might think you have a compelling idea that no customer will resist and that everyone would love to use. You may be correct, but you could be dead wrong. If you spend all of your time and money building a complete product and then, after launching, discover that no one needs or wants your app… you’re in trouble.
When you design an MVP, you are improving your chances of building an app that your customers will like, use and download in the future. They will give you feedback that you can use to solve their problems even more efficiently than you imagined before.
2) Your MVP Cuts Costs
If you are starting with a new app, you don’t have limitless investment and resources at your disposal. You need to conserve your funding for development and marketing in the longer term. When you build an MVP, you only need a fraction of the budget to test and improve your idea. You’ll also be able to use your MVP to attract new investors and give them a better idea of what your product will look like when it’s complete.
3) Shorter Time to Launch
You want to get your product “out there” as soon as possible. You want to generate feedback, improve your product, and most importantly, start making money right away. Your MVP is one of the best ways to improve your time-to-market speeds. Being fast doesn’t just mean you’ll start making money sooner; it also means you can beat your competitors to market.
4) It’s Less Risky
Many start-ups fail in their first year. As we’ve already said, your MVP reduces your cost and time to market – which also reduces your risk. Knowing what your customers want will also improve your chances of success because you are building something worthwhile.
5) It’s Fit For the Market
Building a fully-featured product without validating whether the market wants or needs it is very risky – you could lose your entire investment. Building an MVP helps you determine your odds of success upfront.
How to Build a Minimum Viable Product
You can build your MVP with an in-house team or by outsourcing the entire process to an agency. At this stage, it’s probably best to outsource it to other developers. Offshore developers hired via a reputable agency are probably your cheapest and safest bet. They are experts at designing MVPs for various industries and are adept at meeting different needs.
Wrapping Up
If you want to build an MVP for an app, make sure that you have the right experience to back you. You have to invest in user testing and feedback to pass on to your team and iterate to build the best possible solution for your market. It might not be easy to enter the app game, but it’s worthwhile!
Leave a Reply