Module 97: Product Development
The MVP
🏠The everyday picture
Before opening a restaurant, a cook runs a weekend food stall with three dishes. If people queue and come back, the restaurant is worth building; if not, little is lost, and much is learned.
📘What it really is
-
A minimum viable product (MVP) is the smallest product that lets real users get real value and lets you learn whether your idea works.
-
"Minimum" means few features, not poor quality: what's there must work reliably, be secure and be pleasant to use.
- Ways to test before building much:
- a landing page describing the offer, with a sign-up, to measure interest;
- a concierge MVP: do the service by hand for a few users (match students with tutors yourself on WhatsApp and a spreadsheet) to learn what matters;
- a "Wizard of Oz" MVP: a simple front end, with people doing the work behind it;
-
a clickable prototype (Figma) to test the flow before coding.
-
Choose MVP scope from research and the riskiest assumptions:
- list your assumptions ("parents will pay online in advance"; "tutors will keep availability up to date");
- find the riskiest ones (if wrong, the product fails);
-
design the MVP to test those first.
-
For the booking platform, an MVP might be: one city, a few subjects, tutors added by you, availability, booking, online payment, confirmations and reminders. Not yet: reviews, chat, mobile apps, group classes, recommendations.
-
Define success up front: "within 8 weeks, 30 tutors listed, 200 paid bookings, and 40% of students book a second session."
🖱️Try it
List ten assumptions behind the booking platform and rate each by risk and how little you know. Choose the three riskiest and design a cheap test for each (landing page, concierge MVP, prototype). Write the MVP scope (in and out) and three measurable success criteria with a time limit.
✅Quick check
Does "minimum" in MVP mean low quality?
Show the answer
No. It means few features; what's included should work well.
What should an MVP be designed to test first?
Show the answer
The riskiest assumptions, the ones that would sink the product if wrong.