Post on 08-Sep-2014
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The Minimum Lovable Product(forget MVP)
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A can of cat food is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) when you are starving
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But it’s highly unsatisfying and unlikely to generate a loyal following (of humans)
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That’s one of the problems of the MVP approach. It strives for ‘barely enough’
and never great
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It results in products that mostly work but never delight
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Definition:
The MVP is a new product with just the necessary features to be deployed, but no more
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But will that make customers love
you?
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Growth comes from long-term customer happiness
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And long-term customer happiness comes when
customers adore your product and want you to
succeed
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What would it take for customers to love you—not tolerate you?
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What would it take to create a Minimum Lovable Product (MLP)?
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While the true adoption of the MVP is a strategic approach to getting product out the door…
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…when applied, can yield to unsatisfactory products
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Rather than asking what do customers really want, or what would delight them
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The conversation always returns to what’s the minimum viable product and when can we get it to market
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The problem is that the two major
principles driving the MVP are flawed
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1: The MVP reduces waste
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The MVP never reduces waste
because it never delivers what the
customer really wants
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2: The MVP accelerates time to market
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The MVP may very well get you
something to market first but even in an
emerging market you will not be a serious
contender
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• Helpdesks before Zendesk
• Tablets before iPads
• Electric cars before Tesla
• CRM tools before Salesforce
There were …
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Chasing the MVP forces you to sprint faster and faster chasing fool’s gold
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Assuming you want to start thinking about creating love and others are willing to give you a chance …
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Here are a few ways to determine if you have succeeded in identifying a Minimum Lovable Product
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Find the big idea first
(The more of these characteristics you can check off for your idea, the more lovable your product will be)
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At least one person tells you it’s never been done
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Customers visibly smile when you describe it to them
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Someone swears when he hears the idea (in delight or disgust)
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You dream of using it and all of the features
you could add
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Only your CTO or top architects think it’s
possible
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People start contacting you to learn about what you
are building
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The top industry analysts are not writing about it
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We hope this inspires and excites you
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Interested in learning about what customers think of your product today?
Use our interactive tool to discover how lovable your product is
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Check out a free trial of our lovable software at Aha!
the new way to create brilliant product strategy and visual roadmaps
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