MVP Overview

There is a remarkable difference between a minimum viable and a minimum marketable product, each serving distinctive roles. Usually, a minimum viable product serves as a product version of the product to be developed, and this product constitutes fewer elements or significant features of the main product. The minimum viable product is built to validate the product ideas before implantation. The initial development of this substantial product allows the product developers to gather user feedback in the initial developmental stages. It is thus easier to ensure validated learning, which is critical to the entire development of the product at hand. In a small overview, other vital perks of the Minimum Viable Product include reducing marketing time, facilitating more accessible and faster product releases, and reducing risks. On the reduction of risk element, the MVP ensures that features only fail in this stage of development since no much investments are made in the development of this product – that is, it is not the actual development of the product.

MMP Overview

A Minimum Marketable Product is just an extension of the Minimum Viable Product whose sole purpose is to provide a more developed version of the MVP and a way to sell the product to the customers. With a Minimum Marketable Product, users enjoy a remarkable, solid experience when using the product to be developed. The MMP ensures to deliver quality and value to customers thus ensuring they have a better and noteworthy experience when using the product. For developers who work on both the MVP and the MMP, it is essential to understand the use of fake door testing to validate the features users demand most. Using fake door testing to verify the implementation of a feature into the product under development helps avoid feature bloats that might occur during and after product development. As developers, it is also essential to avoid falling into the feature parity gap by sparing enough time for the user to give their opinions or raise feature requests that match competitors’ offers. It is also essential that you invest your entire focus on the minimum marketable feature for better results. After developing the MMP and MVP, it is necessary to ensure a proper survey to ensure that they both meet the market and user demands.

A deeper understanding of the Minimum Viable Product

When developing a product, diving right into the actual development is rare. Thus, developers ensure that an earlier version of the product is created for use among the product users. The product ensures that enough features and functionality are implemented to attract the initial and potential users. Once the users are used to the product, the actual product can now be developed with the implementation of all the products and functionalities depending on what users need to be implemented from the Minimum Viable Product.

In the Agile development process, the Minimum Viable Product stands out as one of the significant parts of the development phase. During this phase, users can test and validate user ideas and feedback without spending extra time and resources. Therefore, developers can commit fewer resources and time, thus saving the cost and time spent developing a remarkable product.

The Need for a Minimum Viable Product

As a user, you might often wonder why you need a Minimum Viable Product. However, on the developer side, a Minimum Viable Product stands out with significant advantages and perks in the development phase. Let’s explore some of the key reasons why you need a Minimum Viable Product:

Why you need Minimum Viable Product

• Reduced implementation and marketing time

Implementing and developing a Minimum Viable Product is an essential time-saver in the development phase. Time saved through developing a Minimum Viable Product comes in terms of reduced marketing time, which helps developers launch the product faster and make it available for users. Therefore, developers and users enjoy perks from implementing a Minimum Viable Product. Developers enjoy limited time to launch and host a product, while users want access to products launched faster and more efficiently.

Launching a product with fewer features is more accessible, simpler, and faster than delivering a complete product with a wide range of features. Therefore, implementing and launching a Minimum Viable Product gives developers a more leisurely time during development.

• Proper Product Idea Validation

With a Minimum Viable Product comes the more accessible validation of product ideas. With an MVP comes the greater need for launching the product quickly to its consumers or users, and thus, the collection of user feedback and needs for improvements is always immediate from potential customers. This is an added advantage in the development industry since earlier and faster collection of user requirements means the onset of building a proper product that meets most of the customer’s demands or user needs.

• Minimal Development Costs

The more significant aspect of development cost minimization comes with a Minimum Viable Product. Developing a product, the MVP way means the developer will reduce costs associated with directly developing the product. Therefore, it is essential to use an MVP approach when developing to deliver core functionality to customers. It is also necessary that startups focus on the MVP since they might face critical financial issues and a scarcity of resources. By focusing on the cost of MVP development, companies can allocate resources more effectively & prioritize critical features for market testing.

• Earlier Access to Investors

Another key reason you need a Minimum Viable Product is the access and attention of investors. With the MVP, you can always get the right investors, which will grow your product faster. The future of your product is also assured with the MVP since you can always land proper investors to push your product to the highest market-level standards.

A Deeper Understanding of The Minimum Marketable Product

In the initial sections, we have covered a simple overview of the MMP and the MVP. However, this section will cover a more profound overview of the Minimum Marketable Product. But first, let’s have a fundamental understanding of the MMP. The MMP is the second version that comes after the Minimum Viable Product. Thus, its implementation comes after the software product development process. Developers, therefore, implement the functionality of the Minimum Marketable product based on the feedback provided by the users of the Minimum Viable Product. The Minimum Marketable Product comes with a wide range of features even though lesser than the features standard in the product under development. However, the key features integrated within the Minimum Marketable Product work seamlessly and adequately deliver most customer needs and demands. The standard features in the Minimum Marketable Product give your product an added advantage over competitors but help distinguish the product from others.

The minimum viable product (MVP), on the other hand, is not a fully functional product but a prototype or mockup designed to test ideas and validate concepts. It informs future development, and selling it to customers would be cheeky. An MVP offers potential rather than value, serving as a testing ground for market fit with minor or insignificant investment.

The significant distinction between the MVP and the MMP is value. As mentioned, the MVP aims to test ideas and inform future development but doesn’t deliver any value. In contrast, the MMP does provide value to the customer. The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) aims to validate assumptions and explore whether the main idea behind the product resonates with its target audience. While the MVP includes essential features to showcase the product’s basic functionality, it is intentionally limited in scope.

Consequently, the target audience of both the MVP and MMP differs. The MVP is for early adopters who may be willing to engage with a rough product version to help test its viability. These users often tolerate limited functionality and glitches in exchange for being part of an innovative process. For the MVP, the value exchange is less about the product solving problems for the user and more about gathering feedback and guiding further development.

The MMP targets actual customers, which means a greater focus on customer experience. It is not just about the product but all customer interactions with your business, including the sales process or customer support.

The Product Development Process of an MVP

The significant steps in developing an MVP include conducting market research, idea management, defining technical specifications, road mapping, prioritization, product creation, and launching.

• Conducting Market Research

Gap analysis, a critical element in market analysis determining where a product may fit, is an irresistible point in business. Customer pain can be understood as the problem area the MVP should address to meet actual customer needs.

• Idea Management

They relate to other structurally generated idea tools like the Opportunity Solution Trees. This includes getting feedback for ideas in a cycle that never ends or is repeated in some way.

Technical Specifications are designated as technical specifications. Researching technical requirements, often in user stories, is crucial in agile development. These are usually stored in the backlog for prioritization.

• Road mapping

Provide a broad framework of how your product will succeed, but take your time with details and specifics. Do not overcomplicate while scheduling; there must be room for adjustments in the MVP phase.

• Prioritization

Features must be chosen according to business goals and customer requirements. Proper use of special techniques, such as opportunity scoring or priority poker, is possible.

•  Product creation

This stage is when developers deploy concepts outlined in MVP into real-life projects. The methodologies that combine development and testing phases are known as agile methodologies, and those reduce the time taken to introduce the product into the market.

• Launch MVP

The latter is valuable for getting to know engaged early adopters, collecting feedback, and launching MVPs on different platforms. Since the first impression is significant, be very selective of words used in emails and prepare release notes.

Understanding the Minimum Marketable Product

The MVP is the initial model; the MMP evolves from it and is a product catered to the market with input incorporated from customers and other users. Unlike MVP, which is more concentrated on negating the ideas, MMP offers worth to the customers as it focuses on actual users of the goods and services. It focuses on customers in terms of the goods sold and the interactions customers have with the company. An MMP Produces quality products and services and sets itself apart from rivals. The MMP is the evolved version of the MVP, incorporating feedback to offer a market-ready product with enhanced features. Unlike the MVP, which focuses on validating ideas, the MMP provides tangible value to customers, aiming for a better user experience and satisfaction.

Key Characteristics of an MMP

The significant characteristics of the MMP include targeting actual customers rather than early adopters, prioritizing customer experience, and including interactions beyond the product, such as sales and support. It also delivers quality and differentiates itself from competitors.

• Transitioning from MVP to MMP

To transition from market-viable products to market-ready products, it is essential to base on the following vital procedures;

1. Avoiding Over-Engineering Feature Bloat Prevention with Fake Door Testing
2. Eliminate extra functions by declaring them as an experiment and analyzing the audience’s reactions in advance.
3. Focus on User Needs, as leads can be gathered using in-app micro-surveys or public roadmaps to capture feature submissions obtained directly from users.
4. Adopting Feature-Driven Development by defining Minimum Marketable Features is also crucial in transitioning.

Moreover, conducting Hypothesis testing for Product-Market Fit can help determine whether your MVP meets market demands. For instance, a PMF Survey can assess users’ disappointment if the relevant product is unavailable. To validate your strong PMF, ensure that at least 40% of cancel users express high disappointment.

• Enhancing the MMP

To enhance the MMP, emotional design products must be applied that create an emotional bond in the users’ hearts. For instance, a funny & friendly error message like ‘Two bumpy sheep attacking blindly’ can help overcome grumpiness.

Deliver a Better Experience at every point of Contact. Track customer goals and identify friction points using tools. Optimizing these touchpoints ensures a seamless user experience.

• Conduct Usability Testing

Refining usability is crucial in the MMP stage to impress and convert users into loyal customers. Identify and fix usability issues to ensure a smooth experience.

Significant Differences Between MVP and MMP

MVP and MMP have significant differences, as we have discussed earlier. However, the considerable differences between the two are highlighted here;

• Value Delivered

With a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), they do not deliver direct customer revenue; they test certain concepts. However, an MMP has physical substance and is available for sale at the necessary stage. MVP also targets a different audience from MMP. The main targets of MVP are consumers in the growth market willing to put up with less-than-perfect products. MMP, on the other hand, targets the increased clientele that demands highly polished functionality.

• The role or purpose

Another key distinction between the two lies in their purpose. MVP supports concepts and feedback, while MMP meets market needs and guarantees customer enjoyment. Among other things, the Scope of Features differentiates the two. MVP has limited and essential features, while the MMP has a broader range of advanced characteristics; however, it is not as diverse as in the final product.

• Market demand

An MVP is always the most reliable option when you have a theoretical concept of a digital product, especially in cases where you need to test your value proposition in the marketplace. It is always the finest way to check for market demand for your product and a proper way to market it. Thus, it saves you the time and money you’d have spent on a full-fledged product.

An MMP is one of the best approaches to use when you already have the assurance that there is a more robust demand for the product to be implemented. It is also the best approach when you have the proper resources to build the entire product. At this stage, the primary thing is always to put the desired product into the customer or user’s hands to gather the desired data and feedback from those who adopted the product earlier. Doing so allows developers to iterate through the product development and thus improve features in any future releases.

• Development time and resources

Regarding development time and resources, the building MVP consumes less time, which means developers can develop it first. However, the MVP consumes lesser costs regarding new product development since the main aim is to gather customer feedback before the development of the product transforms into an actual product. Thus, it consumes limited time and investment resources.

On the other hand, an MMP requires more development time, which means extra investment. However, it is cheaper than developing the product itself.

Conclusion

The MVP and MMP are used in the product development process. The MVP is useful for researching ideas and getting feedback and funding, while the MMP is the final product model that fits consumers’ needs. About these distinct roles, the developers will be crowded both with profitable sales and continuous customer loyalty. The approach to building an MVP and transitioning to an MMP is all about constraints. The freedom of innovation vs the need for functionality, the desire for vision vs the reality of implementation. When applied, this strategy guarantees producing a product that excels in a competitive market.

Any queries? Get in touch with our MVP development company – Aalpha Information Systems!