12 Efficient MVP Product Management Tips for Product Managers

Deploying an MVP to validate a business model has become a widely adopted strategy for startup launches. Many renowned companies like Uber, Dropbox, Figma, and Slack embarked on their path to becoming unicorns by leveraging the power of MVPs.

This approach also entices you, which is why you’re looking for the best practices to do it.

Your wait is over. In this article, we’ll discuss 12 tips for starting your MVP journey.

But before that, here is a quick check for your MVP idea.

Is Your MVP Truly Compelling?

Before launching your MVP, it’s crucial to evaluate whether it’s compelling enough to capture the attention of your target users.

To do this, consider the following traits:

• Does it cater to the key user problems? Your MVP should solve the main pain points of your target users. While people might have dozens or hundreds of problems, make sure your MVP caters to the top three problems, aka Tier 1.
• Does it show the core product value? Your MVP should demonstrate the unique value proposition of your product. It should showcase the core features that differentiate it from the competition.
• Do you have means in place to gather user feedback? Collecting user feedback is crucial to improving your MVP. Have mechanisms to gather feedback, such as surveys, analytics, and user testing.

If your MVP checks all these boxes, it’s more likely to fascinate your target users. However, if you identify gaps in these areas, consider changing your idea before building your MVP.

Now, let’s get into the core of our discussion – tips for successful MVP development.

Practical Tips for Managing the MVP Product Development Process

So, you’re good to go if you think your MVP idea is unique and you’re ready to build and launch it to gather customer feedback. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Skip Perfection

It is always wise not to build everything at once. Going all-in can lead to a long development cycle and unnecessary features that may not be used by your target users.

With the MVP, your goal is to get your product idea to market as quickly as possible and test it. Therefore, don’t get caught up in trying to make it perfect. Instead, focus on getting the basics right.

For example, if you’re building an AI-powered SaaS application for image creation, the bare minimum might include:

• The ability to upload images
• To generate images as per the user’s input
• To save and share images

Once you have the first iteration in place, you can add more features and functionality.

2. Include the Necessary Functionalities

While it’s important to focus on MVP features, including the basics is also essential. Just because you’re building an MVP doesn’t mean you can skip the critical functionalities for your value proposition.

For example, for your AI image creation app, the basics might include:

• A user-friendly interface
• A fast and reliable performance
• A secure platform

By including the basics, you’ll make it more likely that users will have a positive outlook for your product, and when you launch it full-fledged, they’ll be the early adopters.

3. Have an MVP Roadmap in Place

An MVP roadmap is a plan that outlines the features and functionality that you’ll include in your MVP. It makes sure that you’re building the right product.

Your roadmap should be based on user research and market understanding. It should also be receptive to changes so that you can improvise as you understand your users and their needs.

For example, for your AI image creation app, your MVP roadmap might include the following:

• Phase 1: Basic image creation features
• Phase 2: Advanced image creation features
• Phase 3: Integration with other applications

4. Don’t Forget the Product Design Principles

Product design principles are important for any product, but especially for MVPs. Design principles allow you to set a framework for your future product releases. They represent your brand image, so avoiding them is no good.

Hence, you should make sure to use the following design principles in your MVP.

Emotional Design

Ensuring the MVP design evokes the intended emotion and connects the user and the product is critical. The emotional design principle ensures that your MVP significantly impacts user engagement and retention.

• Here is how you can implement the emotional design principle:
• Use colors, visuals, and aesthetics to connect with the user.
• Makes the user feel inspired, creative, or engaged.
• Create a unique and memorable user experience.

Usable Design

It is critical that your MVP be accessible to the widest possible audience. So, ensure the MVP is easy to operate, even for non-technical users. This principle is important as it can significantly impact user adoption rates.

Use the following design traits to make your MVP usable:

• Intuitive and easy to use for non-technical users
• Consistent and predictable user interface
• Minimal learning curve
• Navigation and actions that are clear and easy to understand

Reliable Design

Reliable MVP design is about allowing users to enjoy the MVP without experiencing any issues. This principle is important as it can significantly impact user satisfaction and retention rates at the MVP level.

So, make sure that your MVP:

• Functions correctly and consistently.
• Faces minimal errors or crashes.
• Deliver consistent performance across different devices and user scenarios.
• Shows clear and helpful error messages in case of discrepancies.

Functional Design

Functional design refers to the ability of a product to perform its intended functions.

For example, for your AI image creation tool, your focus should be on developing and testing the core image editing features to ensure that they function properly and meet the needs of its target users.

5. Be Flexible in Terms of Planning

Being flexible in your planning is important, especially when managing an MVP development project. It allows the team to adapt to unexpected challenges that may arise in the future.

Here is more light on why flexibility is important:

• Agile Development: MVP development is a part of agile development methodologies, prioritizing flexibility and adaptability over rigid planning. Agile focuses on a systematic learning approach where new products are frequently built and tested.
• Rapid Iteration: MVP development is characterized by rapid iteration and feedback cycles. Flexibility allows the team to adjust the product based on user feedback during each iteration.
• Resource Constraints: MVP development focuses on limiting resource allocation, such as time, budget, or staffing. Flexibility enables you to allocate resources as needed to ensure the MVP meets its goals within the given budget.
• User Feedback: The goal of an MVP is primarily user feedback. Therefore, your development plan should be flexible enough to incorporate user feedback.

6. Pick the Right Development Approach

When it comes to development, MVP product managers have several options to choose from. Here are the top three approaches to MVP development.

No-Code Development

No-code development platforms allow users to build applications without writing any code. These platforms offer a range of pre-built components and templates that allow you to develop various applications.

Some popular no-code development platforms include:

• Bubble: A web-based platform that allows users to build web and mobile applications without coding. Bubble offers a visual drag-and-drop interface and a library of pre-built templates and plugins.
• Glide: A platform that allows users to create mobile apps using Google Sheets as a database. Glide offers a range of pre-built components and templates and the ability to customize and extend them using simple formulas.

When to use No-Code development: No-code development is ideal for MVPs that require simple, straightforward functionality with no customization and have a limited budget and timeline.

Low-Code Development

Low-code development platforms are similar to no-code platforms but offer more customization options. These platforms provide pre-built components and templates. They also allow you to customize and extend them using code.

Some popular low-code development platforms include:

• OutSystems: It allows you to build web and mobile applications using visual modeling and drag-and-drop components. OutSystems offers an integrated development environment (IDE) for more advanced customizations and coding.
• Mendix: It allows you to build custom web and mobile applications using visual modeling and drag-and-drop components. Mendix also offers a range of pre-built templates and integrations.

When to use Low-Code Development: This approach is best suited for projects with unique requirements that need integration with other systems or applications.

Custom Development

Custom development involves building an application using programming languages and frameworks. This approach offers complete control over the application’s functionality and design but also requires more technical expertise and resources.

Some popular technologies for custom development include:

• React: A JavaScript library for building user interfaces. React is known for its performance and scalability.
• Node.js: A server-side JavaScript runtime environment. Node.js is often used for building scalable, high-performance web applications and APIs.

When to use Custom Development: Custom development is the best option for MVPs that require highly specialized functionality or unique user experiences that cannot be achieved using pre-built components or templates.