Why do startups need a minimum viable product (MVP)? How do we define the features for a MVP? What are the principles that we can use to move the team towards building that MVP which can be subjected to a lot of distractions in the market? In this session, I will guide the students in Singapore University of Technology & Design on a product development session and teach them to think, construct and work out a MVP.

1. Minimum Viable Product
Bernard Leong
Minimum
Bad Products no
one want to use
Viable
Products built
by companies
with better
resources
Good
Products
for startups
to build
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2. Outline
• Why do we need a
minimum viable product
(MVP)?
• How do we decide what
features constitute a MVP?
• What can we do with the
MVP to validate our
business hypothesis?
• Where do we go from here?
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3. Session Objective
• To learn the concept of minimum viable product
(MVP) in a lean startup setting.
• To figure out how to construct a MVP in a
startup team.
• To discern what are the considerations and
decisions required to build a MVP.
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4. “A minimum viable product is the version of a new product
which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of
validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
- Eric Ries, “The Lean Startup”
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5. Why do we need a minimum viable product?
• The allure of a good plan,
a solid strategy & thorough
market research for an
established company
mapped to a startup.
• Doing without thinking
about the processes lead
to execution problems
within the team.
• Lack of focus & execution.
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6. The goal of customer discovery is to test your
understanding of the customer’s problem & see
if your solution will prompt him to use/buy the
product based on the important features alone.
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7. Early adopters love to use MVPs. Tailor the initial
product to satisfy their needs. If no one thinks your
MVP is interesting or sufficient, iterate or pivot with
qualitative until they say “yes”.
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8. MVPs refine the solution &
eliminates product scope creep
If & only if, no customers can
be found for the most
important features of the
MVP, bring customers’
additional feature requests to
the productive development
team.
Feature requests to an MVP
are exception & iteration
rather than rule.
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9. The goal of the MVP is to build the
smallest feature set.
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10. Examples of Minimum Viable Product
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11. How do you decide features in a MVP?
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12. Principle 1: Less is more in MVP development
“New is Easy. Right is hard” - Craig Federighi, Apple
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13. Exhibit: Instagram App - Uploading Speed
Principle 2:
The most Boring feature is the most Important one.
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14. How simple we want the process to be?
Do we really need them to fill up everything?
Principle 3:
The Path of Least Resistance: Minimize Friction
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15. Principle 4: Think Scarcity - Demand vs Supply
Exhibit: Mailbox App
Pushing the user to repeat using the app subconsciously
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16. Exhibit: Uber App
Principle 5: Focus on closing the loop for the user
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17. Principle 6:
Iterate & Refine with User Feedback & Usage Data
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18. What are the killer metrics that inspire users to come back?
Exhibit: Fab.com
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19. Principle 7: Be prepared to pivot if it’s not working
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20. Learn from Everyone,
Follow no one,
Observe the Patterns,
Work Like Hell.
Final Thoughts
http://www.bernardleong.com
Slideshare/Twitter/GMail: bleongcw
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21. Exercise 1a
• You are the product manager of the startup team who is building a photo
sharing website such that your customers are able to store, share and
organize their pictures on a desktop, tablet or mobile phone. The
objective is to (a) come up with a specifications of a product which can
be built and deployed within 3 months & (b) figure out whether
customers will print their pictures onto postcards and calendars.
• Gather the team around and start working out a set of features which
you will need for this photo sharing website.
• At the same time, also come up with a list of 10 measurable metrics
which are important to your customer discovery process.
• Hint: A good strategy is to devise categories for different feature sets of
a product.
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22. Exercise 1b
• You are the product manager of the startup team who is building a
video sharing website such that your customers are able to store,
share and organize their 1 minute videos on a desktop, tablet or mobile
phone. The objective is (a) to come up with a specifications of a
product which can be built and deployed within 3 months and (b) figure
out whether customers will pay for storage up to a certain size up to
the team’s discretion.
• Gather the team around and start working out a set of features which
you will need for this photo sharing website.
• At the same time, also come up with a list of 10 measurable metrics
which are important to your customer discovery process.
• Hint: A good strategy is to devise categories for different feature sets
of a product.
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23. Exercise 1c
• You are the product manager of the startup team who is building a e-
commerce site that sells premium or luxury baby products to
consumers and works on both desktop and tablet. The objective is (a)
to come up with a specifications of a product which can be built and
deployed within 3 months and (b) figure out whether customers are
willing to pay in a range between $500-$2000 for the luxury baby
products.
• Gather the team around and start working out a set of features which
you will need for this photo sharing website.
• At the same time, also come up with a list of 10 measurable metrics
which are important to your customer discovery process.
• Hint: A good strategy is to devise categories for different feature sets
of a product.
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24. Exercise 1d
• You are the product manager of the startup team who is building a
website that allows a consumer to print stamps for postage. The
objective is (a) to come up with a specifications of a product which can
be built and deployed within 3 months and (b) figure out whether
customers are willing to buy and print stamps and sending them
immediately with the postal service. Assume that you have a
partnership with the postal service and the stamps printed are valid.
• Gather the team around and start working out a set of features which
you will need for this website.
• At the same time, also come up with a list of 10 measurable metrics
which are important to your customer discovery process.
• Hint: A good strategy is to devise categories for different feature sets
of a product.
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25. Exercise 1e
• You are the product manager of the startup team who is building a
mobile application that can allow users to search and discover fashion
boutiques around the region. The objective is (a) to come up with a
specifications of a product which can be built and deployed within 3
months and (b) figure out how to attract more users to use the mobile
application and at the same time, getting them to buy from the mobile
phone.
• Gather the team around and start working out a set of features which
you will need for the native app. You have to decide whether you want
to build iOS or Android app.
• At the same time, also come up with a list of 10 measurable metrics
which are important to your customer discovery process.
• Hint: A good strategy is to devise categories for different feature sets
of a product.
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26. Exercise 2
• From exercise (1), do the following:
• Work out the top 3 features from the list you
have brainstormed.
• Map out the timeline to how you can deliver
this product in 3 months.
• Hint: The best strategy is to say “no” to some
features and argue out why they are not
necessary.
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