The Minimum Lovable Product (Forget the MVP)

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The Minimum Lovable Product(forget MVP)


A can of cat food is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) when you are starving


But it’s highly unsatisfying and unlikely to generate a loyal following (of humans)


That’s one of the problems of the MVP approach. It strives for ‘barely enough’

and never great


It results in products that mostly work but never delight


Definition:

The MVP is a new product with just the necessary features to be deployed, but no more


But will that make customers love

you?


Growth comes from long-term customer happiness


And long-term customer happiness comes when

customers adore your product and want you to

succeed


What would it take for customers to love you—not tolerate you?


What would it take to create a Minimum Lovable Product (MLP)?


While the true adoption of the MVP is a strategic approach to getting product out the door…


…when applied, can yield to unsatisfactory products


Rather than asking what do customers really want, or what would delight them


The conversation always returns to what’s the minimum viable product and when can we get it to market


The problem is that the two major

principles driving the MVP are flawed


1: The MVP reduces waste


The MVP never reduces waste

because it never delivers what the

customer really wants


2: The MVP accelerates time to market


The MVP may very well get you

something to market first but even in an

emerging market you will not be a serious

contender


• Helpdesks before Zendesk

• Tablets before iPads

• Electric cars before Tesla

• CRM tools before Salesforce

There were …


Chasing the MVP forces you to sprint faster and faster chasing fool’s gold


Assuming you want to start thinking about creating love and others are willing to give you a chance …


Here are a few ways to determine if you have succeeded in identifying a Minimum Lovable Product


Find the big idea first

(The more of these characteristics you can check off for your idea, the more lovable your product will be)


At least one person tells you it’s never been done


Customers visibly smile when you describe it to them


Someone swears when he hears the idea (in delight or disgust)


You dream of using it and all of the features

you could add


Only your CTO or top architects think it’s

possible


People start contacting you to learn about what you

are building


The top industry analysts are not writing about it


We hope this inspires and excites you


Interested in learning about what customers think of your product today?

Use our interactive tool to discover how lovable your product is

http://www.aha.io/roadmapping/product-lovability-index

http://www.aha.io/roadmapping/product-lovability-index


Check out a free trial of our lovable software at Aha!

the new way to create brilliant product strategy and visual roadmaps

http://www.aha.io/

The Minimum Lovable Product (Forget the MVP)

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