That is not a MVP !

There is a lot of confusion and diverging opinions around what an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is. This term has been widely (mis)used and after dozen of conversations explaining what is and isn’t a MVP, I think it’s time to share my thoughts in an article (spoiler alert: this might be controversial)😉 

MVP, POC, MMP, prototype, mockup… let’s see the differences

1. Viability

The term Viable is the source of all misconceptions here, a dual interpretation from the literal meaning vs the one from Lean UX.

Literally speaking, when something is viable, it means that it works, it is feasible/possible, technically and economically, capable of surviving. Viability is like the final step of the overall process of validation. On the other hand, the term MVP was first used in the 2000’s but really popularized by Eric Ries as a step of validation of a business hypothesis.

Let’s come back to that: “validation of a business hypothesis”. I can refer my previous article on the Opportunity Vacuum Framework, quoting the Adjacent Viable as the frontier for business / economic model innovation. Viable in this context means that “someone is willing to buy it”, that there is a business model behind the concept. It doesn’t have to work (not necessarily). 

Let’s see some examples of MVP:

• Dropbox: Do you know what Dropbox’s MVP was? This video! This is the MVP they used to validate the business model, reach an audience of potential clients willing to pay for the service and raise the corresponding funds to start the company. (If you were wondering, at the time the video was a mockup, fake, the product did not exist).
• Buffer: Buffer is a tool to schedule social media post. Their MVP was just a landing page. Just that. (You can read more here)
• AirBnB: Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia launched their MVP renting their home loft during a design conference in SF, uploading some photos to a website and see if someone was interested and willing to pay.
• Bonus food for though: The Pet Rock. Is this a MVP? People bought this, although it is the pinnacle of uselessness and consumerism aberration😉

2. What defines each concept

Let’s try to simplify and put some logic and order into the different phases to try to position each concept and output: Mockup, UR, POC, MVP, Prototype, MMP, v0…

Things that do not work on their own, in the wild:

• User research, mockups, sketches, storyboards: these are used to validate hypothesis with users. Designers sometimes miscall these as “prototypes”, but the difference is that none of these actually work (a prototype does). They are used to test human/user acceptance
• Proof of Concept (POC): used to test or validate a technology or feasibility, not a business model or even user acceptance / pain point resolution.
• MVP (Minimum Viable Product): used to test a business model, an economic viability, if users are willing to pay for it. It doesn’t have to work, although is usually tackles user acceptance (usually… forget about the Pet Rock 😜).

Things that actually work on their own:

• Prototype: fully functional product but not sellable, scalable, etc. as is.
• Note: Yes, my fellow Designers, a “prototype car” can be driven, a “prototype guitar” plays music… Figma makes interactive mockups, NOT prototypes 🤓
• MMP (Minimum Marketable Product): fully functional and sellable product. Not necessarily scalable, but this is close to the literal “viable” meaning 😉

Are they scalable?

• Alpha, beta, pilot: fully functional, sellable, but still testing scalability and robustness
• v0, v1… : fully functional, sellable, scalable… normal product lifecycle iterations

In the world of UX and Design, some might also talk about MLP (Minimum Loveable Product) as a Minimum Product reaching the hedonistic layers (pleasurable and meaningful). But that’s a story for another day 😉

I hope you found this insightful, there is definitely no consensus on these terms, so there might be many interpretations and all of them are valid. 

For me these are the ones that make sense, because each brings a different nuance and has a different purpose. Do you agree?