Minimally valuable prototype

An MVP has three components: it has to be minimal (it's hard not to find consensus on this), while V and P tend to be more contentious.

Prototype

I like the approach of [@cagan2018Inspired: how to create tech products customers love] of using the word prototype rather than product to separate the stage in which the MVP is useful within the product development cycle. A prototype gives the sense that it is not finished, it is developed to learn (about processes, about customers, about the team).

Valuable

Every product-based company needs to find ways of creating value through the products they make. I think using "viable" (minimum viable prototype or minimum viable product) automatically empowers engineers to think what "can" be built rather than what is "worth" building.

Don't forget your users

By focusing on value delivery, engineers and product managers will be faced with the challenge of understanding who are they building for.

Depending on the stage of the company (and product), this may mean involving commercial, it may also mean doing more and better Customer Discovery (follow up with jobs theory to have a framework on which to run the discussions).

Personal Notes

I had a discussion with the software team who built an "MVP" and were frustrated because our internal users didn't want to adopt it. The crux of the issue is that they built something that works but brings no ==value==.

With the wrong understanding of what an "MVP" is, they created a roadmap towards "something that runs and is expressed by the minimum unit of work I can spend on it".

I strongly believe that making the "value" part of the standard vocabulary will transform how we approach the same problems.

A critical aspect of companies is to create share understandings on how to work together. Many people abuse some concepts (probably because of ignorance) and poorly chosen names don't help. Often the value of coaching is understated, especially in startups where the most senior members of the team were not exposed to different world perspectives and experiences.