By Garicia Smith
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| Pexel Photo by Christina Morillo |
‘Value’…that all-encompassing word that can make its way into any conversation around software development.
But, as Agile practitioners, our aim is to always ensure that we are delivering value incrementally, through our MVPs, that is, the minimum viable product that can add value for a customer.
Let’s spend some time looking at how best to do this, in six simple steps.
Six Simple Steps to MVP
1. Define the problem you are trying to solve
Your MVP must always be geared towards solving a specific problem. The problem could be related to increased operational costs, insufficient revenue streams within the organisation, or it could be that it, simply, takes too long to deliver a product to your customer.
It is also important that while you are solving the organisation’s problem that the end result be of significant (or at least, meaningful) value to your customers.
In trying to accurately identify the problem, it is necessary to talk directly with your key stakeholders that have a vested interest in the success of your project. These individuals may include your actual customers, company executives, and process owners etc., all of whom will help you to get a fulsome view of the problem.
From these discussions, you will be able to define the problem statement, and as such, help in creating the vision or goal of the project.
If the product you are trying to improve already exists, you must walk through that journey to identify the challenges within the current process.
The end result of your definition session is a well-defined problem statement, vision or goal and you should be able to answer the following:
- What does success look like for each stakeholder? (Each success criteria must be measurable, but we’ll explore this at another time.)
- What steps are involved in the existing customer journey and what are the opportunities for improvement?
2. Define the new journey
The problem you are trying to solve will determine how you approach this step in the process. It may take the form of a new process design or optimisation of the existing process.
Some of the tools in a lean tool kit can assist with this. These include a value stream mapping or process redesign activity. Be sure to invite your stakeholders to this session, as they will be able to make suggestions to improve the process.
Another technique that can be used to assist with definition of your user journey is an ideation workshop. In this session, you explain the problem you are trying to solve so that your attendees can identify and discuss possible solutions to address the issues.
Whichever approach you use, at the end of this phase, you should have:
- A process map or customer journey map that defines your new process, and
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the new process/journey
3. Define your MVP
Using your customer journey map, you’ll be able to identify your MVP.
Oftentimes, there are tight time constraints, in which the team needs to deliver. It is therefore important that the team determines the most valuable features that can be delivered, within the timeline.
Tip: Using the MOSCOW technique will allow you determine what features should be included in your MVP.
Unsplash Photo by Clay Banks
4. Conduct user testing of your new journey
With the assistance of your User Experience (UX) Designer, you can create a prototype of what the MVP will look like and mock how it is intended to work.
A prototype allows your end-users to get an ‘actual feel’ of the system before coding begins.
It will provide the team with feedback early in the process, which can reduce the effort spent to build a feature that does not deliver the desired impact or value.
5. Build and deliver your MVP
Having tested your proposed solution, getting feedback and insights from your customer does not stop when the team can now begin the actual development.
As the team builds to deliver the MVP, continuous feedback from the stakeholders becomes truly invaluable. Frequent reviews allow the stakeholders to confirm with the development team that they are meeting the needs, as well as identify opportunities to improve on what will be delivered.
It will also help the Product Owner to prioritise the items in their backlog.
Tip: Building quality into the solution delivery is imperative to delivering an optimal solution. Get as many persons who understand your business to go through your solution as it is being built, to ensure that it looks and performs as you want it to.
6. Review and Improve
Once you have launched your MVP, your work still isn’t quite done yet. You should continuously assess the performance of the delivery to see if it meets your users’ needs, as well as the predetermined KPIs in step 2. Through data collection and analysis, you will be able to ascertain opportunities for improvement, as well as new features to be built.
Tip: If you have built a web based application, Google Analytics can provide key insights into how your users are interacting with your solution. However, continuous discussions with your customers will always provide keen insights.
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| Unsplash Photo by Mapbox |
Your customers know what they want so give them a chance to lead the way.
Share your thoughts. What has been your winning formula to delivering value?
About Garicia
Garicia is a Business Process Analyst, who has worked as a Product Owner, on an Agile Team at Jamaica’s largest financial group. She works primarily with Agile teams to design and reimagine new processes to delight customers.
She is an Economics graduate from the University of the West Indies. She enjoys spending her spare time with her two daughters.
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