The MVP model (Minimum Viable Product) is about quickly launching and testing a basic version of your product or service before it’s fully developed. When you develop and test an MVP, you get valuable early-stage feedback on what works well and what needs improvement. Testing your idea early allows you to iterate and make the right adjustments without taking significant steps backward in development.
If your idea is perfect when you first launch it, you’ve probably spent too much time on it. In this guide, Linda, our Head of Community and Knowledge, will explain why.
Yes, it’s really that simple. There are no secret formulas to determine how good your idea is. There are also no experts holding the magical answer. It’s the market and your potential customers who decide, and you simply have to test your way through.
By testing your idea early on, you get feedback and avoid getting stuck in the idea phase. You also don’t have to consider what could have happened if you had just dared.
But What If I Test My Idea, and Someone Steals It?
It’s not uncommon to worry about potential idea theft. But you know what? If you don’t test, you won’t move forward, and then the idea will either fade away—or someone else will likely come up with the same thing eventually.
To satisfy today’s customer, it can be beneficial to use MLP instead of MVP, which stands for Minimum Lovable Product. To create an MLP, you should think in a similar way to creating an MVP, but with more thought and care. The goal of an MLP is to solve the problem while also bringing joy.
So, how do you create an MLP? In addition to what we’ve discussed earlier about building an MVP, you can add another mindset and model that we’ll talk about in another one of our short talks—namely, The Golden Circle and how you develop the ‘why’ of your company or product.
At Science Park, we come across around 1000 ideas each year, but one thing we will never answer is whether an idea is good or bad. The reason for that is simple – we don’t know. What we can share, however, is how you can go about figuring that out. And, of course, we’re here to assist you on that journey!
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