When you hear the term MVP, you probably think of the Most Valuable Player, MVP, used in professional baseball and other sports. In marketing terms, MVP is translated as “minimum viable product”. Let’s take a closer look.
What is MVP?
MVP is an acronym for Minimum Viable Product. In today’s rapidly changing customer needs market, it is important to quickly introduce products with minimal functions to the market and how to meet customer needs. We will then refine and grow these products based on customer feedback.
MVP is a customer-centered approach to product development. This concept is a key element in Lean Startup, a method of developing a business to meet customer needs through repeated hypothesis testing at minimal cost and in a short period.
The analogy of a car is often used to explain the MVP. The customer wants a means of transportation, but if the company imagines the final car and gives it to the customer from the tires, it will not satisfy the customer’s need for transportation. Instead, the MVP approach is to start with skateboards, kickboards, etc., and evolve to bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles.
Benefits of utilizing MVP
- Without investing a lot of effort, research if your product is needed in the market.
- Quickly identify needs and wants.
- Minimize development team time.
- Early introduction to the market allows for quicker monetization.
- Gain a first-mover advantage by getting to market before the competition.
The advantage of MVP is that the product can be introduced to the market at an early stage of development, so it is possible to confirm whether the product is what customers are looking for. This is a great advantage because it allows us to decide early on whether to continue or stop development based on the results.
MVP is a development method initially used in Silicon Valley and IT companies, but recently it is often employed by large Japanese companies to confirm whether a service should be launched in the market. It is suitable for launching a product with simple functions in a shorter period and verifying whether the product can meet customer needs.