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We share proven marketplace development strategies based on real world case studies. Browse actionable insights on minimum viable products, product/market fit, user experience, revenue models, payment systems, platform architecture, and more.

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Product pages now indicate if an artwork is part of campaigns (e.g. curated collections or art fairs). Promotes buyer acquisition and retention.

We lowered shipping costs (a conversion factor) by grouping similar format products into one package (e.g. one tube for unframed prints).

Landlord dashboard promotes transparency by tracking 3rd-party platform bookings and property performance, e.g. income and occupancy rates.

We built an online art fair manager to help AAF replicate their highly successful physical art fair model online due to Covid-19.

30x increase in revenue per user due to improved marketing and customer service enabled by onboarding automation and platform optimisation.

<p>If you are building an online marketplace, you probably know that one of the most important goals is to achieve product-market fit. This means that your product meets the needs and expectations of your target market, and that you have a viable and scalable business model. But how do you get there?</p>



<p>In this blog post, we will explain what product-market fit is, why it is important, and how you can use a high-fidelity minimum viable product (MVP) to test and validate your assumptions and hypotheses. We will also share some examples of successful marketplaces that used high-fidelity MVPs to establish product-market fit.</p>



<h2>What is Product-Market Fit?</h2>



<p>Product-market fit is the degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand. It is often considered as the first step towards building a successful and sustainable business. According to Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz, product-market fit is "the only thing that matters" for startups.</p>



<p>Product-market fit can be measured by various indicators, such as customer satisfaction, retention, referrals, revenue, growth, and profitability. However, there is no one-size-fits-all formula or metric to determine product-market fit. It depends on your specific product, market, and goals.</p>



<h2><strong>At what stage of the business cycle should you start looking for product-market fit?&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>One common question that entrepreneurs face is when to start looking for product-market fit. Should they do it before launching the product, after launching the product, or somewhere in between? The answer depends on the stage of the business cycle that the startup is in.</p>



<p>During the<strong> discovery phase</strong> the entrepreneur identifies a problem that needs to be solved, and comes up with a hypothesis for a possible solution. The goal of this phase is to find the problem-solution fit, which means that the proposed solution actually solves the problem for a specific target market. We have explained how to do this in our article: <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/validate-problem-solution-fit-for-marketplace-project-with-low-fidelity-mvp//">Why marketplace startups should test problem-solution fit with a low-fidelity MVP</a></p>



<p>The <strong>validation phase</strong> is where the entrepreneur tests the hypothesis with real customers, and collects data on their behavior and feedback. The goal of this phase is to validate the product-market fit, which means that the product satisfies a strong market demand, and that customers are willing to pay for it.</p>



<p>Usually, at the beginning of the product-market validation phase, there is an existing platform with some user acquisition and engagement, but low conversion rates. This MVP may have started to generate some turnover, but does not yet have a viable business model.</p>



<p>Based on this framework, it is clear that looking for product-market fit should start in the validation phase, after finding the problem-solution fit in the discovery phase.</p>



<p>However, this does not mean that product-market fit is a one-time event that happens once and for all. Rather, it is an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring and adjustment, as customer needs and preferences may change over time, or as new competitors may enter the market.</p>



<h2><strong>Why is Product-Market Fit Important?</strong></h2>



<p>Product-market fit is important because it validates that you are solving a real problem for a large enough market, and that you have a competitive advantage over other solutions. It also helps you optimise your product development, marketing, and sales strategies, and allocate your resources more efficiently.</p>



<p>Without product-market fit, you will likely struggle to acquire and retain customers, generate revenue, and grow your business. You may end up wasting time and money on building features or functionality that nobody wants or needs, or chasing after the wrong market segment or channel.</p>



<h2><strong>Common product-market fit questions</strong></h2>



<p>To achieve product-market fit, online marketplace entrepreneurs and product managers need to ask and answer some common questions, such as:</p>



<ul><li>How much are users willing to pay?</li><li>Are there enough users willing to pay?</li><li>How do users find and engage with your platform?</li><li>How do users transact on your platform?</li><li>How do you retain users?</li></ul>



<p>These questions help to define the value proposition, the competitive advantage, the marketing strategy, and the product development process of a marketplace project.</p>



<h2>How to Achieve Product-Market Fit with a High-Fidelity MVP?</h2>



<p>A high-fidelity MVP is a version of your marketplace concept that has enough features and functionality to deliver value to your early adopters and test your core assumptions and hypotheses. It is not a fully-fledged product, but it is not a prototype or a mockup either. It is somewhere in between.</p>



<p>A high-fidelity MVP can help you achieve product-market fit by allowing you to:</p>



<h3><strong>Test usability</strong></h3>



<p>You can evaluate how your UX/UI design impacts your user flow and engagement, and how well your core functionality works. For example, how easy is it for users to search, find, select, compare, checkout, and fulfil their transactions on your platform? You can use metrics such as drop-off points, user feedback, sign-ups, ratings, and reviews to measure usability.</p>



<h3>Test and refine the business model</h3>



<p>You can experiment with different aspects of your business model, such as user segmentation, product segmentation, geographic focus, pricing strategy, etc. You can use metrics such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (LTV), gross margin, etc. to measure the viability and scalability of your business model.</p>



<h3>Test and refine the revenue model</h3>



<p>You can test different ways of generating revenue from your platform, such as commissions, fees, subscriptions, advertising, etc. Use the <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/aarrr-pirate-metrics-improve-marketplace-performance/">AARRR framework</a> to define, track and analyse appropriate metrics. These include average order value (AOV), conversion rate, cart abandonment rate, retention rate, churn rate, etc. to measure the effectiveness and sustainability of your revenue model.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/are-we-there-yet-how-to-measure-product-market-fit-in-marketplace-startups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-1.png" alt="How to measure product-market fit in marketplace startups" class="wp-image-10225" width="462" height="415"/></a><figcaption>Click the image to learn more about selecting metrics to prove product-market fit for your marketplace startup.</figcaption></figure></div>



<h3>Iterate</h3>



<p>You can add, adjust, and test features and functionality in an incremental manner based on user feedback and data analysis. You can also identify which features or functionality contribute to product-market fit and which ones do not.</p>



<h2><strong>What is the best technology approach for high-fidelity MVPs?</strong></h2>



<p>Since product-market fit validation, especially for online marketplaces, puts a big emphasis on optimal user flows and the user experience, as well as a process of incremental iteration, <strong><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/">custom marketplace development</a></strong>, which can accommodate unique user flows and features, will always deliver superior outcomes.</p>



<p>Unfortunately, taking shortcuts with an inflexible, unscalable one-size-fits-all turnkey solution will usually postpone, if not permanently block, your quest for product-market fit. We explain why in more detail in our article: <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/6-ways-turnkey-software-solutions-can-kill-your-marketplace-startup/">6 ways turnkey software solutions can kill your marketplace startup</a></p>



<h2>Examples of Successful Marketplaces that Used High-Fidelity MVPs to Establish Product-Market Fit</h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/airbnb-case-study/">Airbnb</a> </strong>started as a simple website that allowed people to rent out their spare rooms or couches to travellers. They focused on testing their value proposition (affordable accommodation with local experiences) and their revenue model (charging a commission from both hosts and guests). They also iterated on their UX/UI design and functionality based on user feedback and data analysis. They eventually added features such as reviews, verification, insurance, etc. to increase trust and safety on their platform.</p>



<p><strong>Ube</strong>r launched as a mobile app that connected riders with drivers who had black cars or SUVs. They focused on testing their value proposition (convenient transportation with premium service) and their revenue model (charging a dynamic fare based on supply and demand). They only added additional features such as surge pricing and ratings after iterating on their UX/UI design and functionality based on user feedback and data analysis. </p>



<p><strong><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/projects/fanpass-marketplace-case-study/">FanPass</a> </strong>- a fast-growing event-ticketing marketplace - used detailed analysis of user behaviour and traffic acquisition to create special features for specific buyer and seller segments. The improved product-market fit resulted in a threefold increase in conversion rates.</p>

How to establish product-market fit for your online marketplace with a high-fidelity MVP

7 growth strategies to scale your online marketplace post product-market fit

<p>We’ve previously written about the <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/6-ways-turnkey-software-solutions-can-kill-your-marketplace-startup/">pitfalls of using off-the-shelf templates</a> to build complex platforms like online marketplaces. In particular, we highlighted how turkey solutions fail to adequately support multiple challenges of new marketplace concepts, in particular: user experience, user flows, scalability, shipping, APIs, and revenue streams. In fact, that post did such a good job of driving the point home that other <a href="https://www.platformos.com/blog/post/the-6-pitfalls-of-turnkey-marketplace-solutions-you-can-avoid-by-building-on-platformos">software development companies</a> have used it as a reference point.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In comparison, <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/">custom marketplace development</a> offers, not only almost unlimited flexibility, functionality and scalability, but critical for success, a blueprint for <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/marketplace-development-process/">mapping a path to product-market fit</a> and identifying growth opportunities.</p>



<p>That said,&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Off-the-shelf marketplace builders do have some advantages</h2>



<p><strong>Budget friendly</strong></p>



<p>If you have a limited budget for developing an online marketplace, off-the-shelf ecommerce software can be a cost-effective solution. These software solutions often come with a range of features and functionalities that can be customised to meet your business needs.</p>



<p><strong>Low skills threshold</strong></p>



<p>If you don't have a team of developers or technical experts to build and maintain a custom ecommerce solution, off-the-shelf software can be a good option. These solutions typically come with support and documentation that can help you get up and running quickly.</p>



<p><strong>Quick implementation</strong></p>



<p>If you need to launch your online marketplace quickly, off-the-shelf software can be a good choice. These solutions often have pre-built templates and integrations that can help you get started faster than building a custom solution from scratch.</p>



<h2>The most important use cases for turnkey marketplace solutions</h2>



<p>Speedy implementation and resource-friendliness by themselves are not necessarily enough reason to utilise a turnkey solution. As we’ve pointed out, such a hasty decision may eventually lead down a dead-end that could result in just the opposite: wasted time and money.</p>



<p>As an example, one of our clients, <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/projects/affordable-art-fair-marketplace-case-study/">Affordable Art Fair</a>, built the initial go-to-market version of their online art marketplace with Magento.&nbsp; The resultant architecture was difficult to adapt, almost impossible to scale, and slow site speed hurt the UX, which necessitated a complete custom overhaul.&nbsp;</p>



<p>However, at the risk of contradicting ourselves, there are instances where custom development amounts to an overkill. This is especially true for novice marketplace entrepreneurs who haven’t built anything yet, or who have gained very little traction or user feedback from badly implemented or overcomplicated <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/building-mvp-top-mistakes/">MVPs</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<h3>1. Test if there is a general need in the market</h3>



<p>The first priority of any aspiring marketplace entrepreneur should be to check&nbsp; if there is in fact a problem that needs solving in their chosen target market. <strong>Driving traffic to a landing page,</strong> which is populated with the basic premise of your marketplace and a sign-up form, could indicate if there is interest from either side (buyers or sellers) in the market.</p>



<p>Other strategies include:</p>



<p><strong>Keyword research</strong>: Using turnkey software, entrepreneurs can research the most commonly used keywords and search terms used on and off their site. This can help them understand if there is significant demand for their concept, and if there are already existing marketplaces targeting those keywords.</p>



<p><strong>Social listening:</strong> Turnkey software can be used to monitor social media channels for mentions of specific keywords or product categories related to the marketplace idea. This can help entrepreneurs understand what people are saying about existing marketplaces, identify potential gaps in the market, and gather feedback on what customers are looking for.</p>



<p><strong>Surveying:</strong> Turnkey software can be used to create and distribute surveys to a target audience, to gather data and feedback on their needs and preferences. Surveys can be used to test the demand for a specific marketplace idea and understand what features and functionalities would be most important to customers.</p>



<p>It is important though, not to confuse testing for a need in the market with validating assumptions about users in that market. The prior forms part of market research, while the latter works towards product-market fit, i.e. do users find your particular solution useful?</p>



<h3>2. Formulate and refine your value proposition</h3>



<p>Online marketplace startups can leverage turnkey software in several ways to gain a better understanding of various market elements. The information gathered can then be used to make data-driven decisions about the new marketplace’s value proposition.</p>



<ol><li><strong>Market analysis</strong>: Turnkey software can provide startups with access to data and analytics on their target market, including consumer behaviour, popular product categories, and regional trends. This information can be used to make informed decisions about which product categories and locations to focus on.</li></ol>



<ol start="2"><li><strong>A/B testing</strong>: Turnkey software can enable startups to run A/B tests to evaluate different product categories or locations to determine which ones are most successful. This can help identify areas of the market with the greatest potential for growth and profitability.</li></ol>



<ol start="3"><li><strong>User feedback</strong>: ecommerce software often includes tools for gathering user feedback, such as surveys or ratings and reviews. Entrepreneurs can use this feedback to identify areas where customers are experiencing problems or frustrations with existing solutions, and use this information to create a better solution.</li></ol>



<ol start="4"><li><strong>Testing and experimentation:</strong> plug-and-play marketplace software can enable entrepreneurs to quickly test and experiment with different marketplace concepts and features to see what resonates with their target audience. This can help identify potential problems and challenges that need to be solved before launching the go-to-market version.</li></ol>



<h3>3. Build user personas&nbsp;</h3>



<p>User feedback collected via turnkey software can also be used to create and segment user personas. Such an exercise will improve audience targeting and engagement once the actual MVP version of the marketplace is up and running.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Some of the main variables that can be used to build user personas for online marketplaces:</p>



<p><strong>Demographics</strong>: This includes variables such as age, gender, income, education, and location. Understanding the demographic characteristics of users can help entrepreneurs tailor their online marketplace to specific groups of people.</p>



<p><strong>Behaviour patterns:</strong> This includes variables such as the frequency of use, the types of products or services purchased, and the time of day that users are most active. Understanding these behaviour patterns can help entrepreneurs design a user experience that is tailored to the needs of their users.</p>



<p><strong>Goals and motivations:</strong> This includes variables such as the reasons why users use the online marketplace, their goals for using it, and the benefits they expect to receive. Understanding these motivations can help entrepreneurs design a marketplace that meets the needs and expectations of their users.</p>



<p><strong>Pain points and challenges</strong>: This includes variables such as the challenges users face when using the online marketplace, the pain points they experience, and the barriers they encounter. Understanding these pain points can help entrepreneurs design a marketplace that addresses these challenges and makes it easier for users to achieve their goals.</p>



<p><strong>Communication preferences</strong>: This includes variables such as the preferred methods of communication and the frequency of communication. Understanding these preferences can help entrepreneurs tailor their communication strategies to the needs of their users and ensure that they are receiving the information they need to use the marketplace effectively.</p>



<p>Our clients, <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/projects/fanpass-marketplace-case-study/">FanPass</a>, a very successful event marketplace, tested their idea with a super smart and cost-effective strategy. They used competitor platforms such as Viagogo, Ticketbiz, and Gumtree to learn more about sellers and buyers of event tickets.This helped them target the right audience with their MVP version with rapid growth as a result.</p>



<h2>Which type of turnkey software is best for testing your marketplace idea?</h2>



<p>These days there are a bewildering array of platforms that offer off-the-shelf ecommerce templates for marketplace development, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Your options include no-code platforms like Bubble or Webflow, low-code platforms like Shopify, general website builders with ecommerce plugins like WordPress with WooCommerce, and dedicated marketplace builders like Sharetribe and Mirakl.</p>



<p>The choice between them depends on the complexity of the online marketplace being developed, the customisation required, the available budget, and the technical skills of the development team.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Note that there can also be big differences between the options within each category. For example, Sharetribe is a good option for entrepreneurs who want to quickly build and launch a basic online marketplace without requiring extensive technical skills. However, entrepreneurs who need more advanced customisation options or more complex features may find Mirakl a better option.</p>



<p><strong>Here’s a basic breakdown of the pros and cons of each category:</strong></p>



<h3>No-Code Platforms:</h3>



<p>Pros:</p>



<ul><li>Easy to use, even for beginners</li><li>No coding skills required</li><li>Fast development and deployment</li><li>Affordable, as they often have low or no subscription fees</li></ul>



<p>Cons:</p>



<ul><li>Limited customisation options</li><li>May not be suitable for more complex marketplaces</li><li>Limited functionality compared to dedicated turnkey software</li><li>Limited support for custom integrations or extensions</li></ul>



<h3>Low-Code Platforms:</h3>



<p>Pros:</p>



<ul><li>More flexibility than no-code platforms</li><li>Faster development than traditional coding methods</li><li>Can integrate with custom code or third-party tools</li><li>More affordable than dedicated marketplace builders</li></ul>



<p>Cons:</p>



<ul><li>Steeper learning curve than no-code platforms</li><li>Limited customisation options compared to dedicated marketplace builders</li><li>Limited functionality compared to dedicated marketplace builders</li><li>May require some coding skills or technical expertise</li></ul>



<h3>General Website Builders with Ecommerce Plugins:</h3>



<p>Pros:</p>



<ul><li>Easy to use, even for beginners</li><li>No coding skills required</li><li>Affordable, with low or no subscription fees</li><li>Can create a basic online marketplace quickly</li></ul>



<p>Cons:</p>



<ul><li>Limited functionality compared to dedicated marketplace builders</li><li>Limited customisation options</li><li>May not be suitable for complex marketplaces</li><li>Limited support for custom integrations or extensions</li></ul>



<h3>Dedicated Marketplace Builders:</h3>



<p>Pros:</p>



<ul><li>Extensive functionality and customisation options</li><li>Supports custom integrations and extensions</li><li>Suitable for complex marketplaces</li><li>Often comes with dedicated customer support</li></ul>



<p>Cons:</p>



<ul><li>Higher cost than no-code or low-code platforms</li><li>Steeper learning curve than no-code or low-code platforms</li><li>May require more technical expertise</li><li>Longer development and deployment time</li></ul>



<h2>Next steps&nbsp;</h2>



<p>By using turnkey software to conduct market research, test the market, gather user feedback, and monitor marketplace metrics, marketplace entrepreneurs can identify any problems or issues in their chosen target market and develop solutions to address them. This can help increase the chances of marketplace success and long-term sustainability.</p>



<p>The next steps in that process would be to create a <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/design-test-mvp/">low-fidelity MVP</a> as part of the discovery phase of the custom development process.</p>

When should you use off-the-shelf ecommerce software for online marketplace development?

Marketplace Development

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problem-solution fit

Are we there yet? How to measure product-market fit in marketplace startups

<p>If you are building an online marketplace, you might have heard of the term MVP, or minimum viable product. An MVP is a version of your product that has the minimum features needed to test your core value proposition with real customers.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But before you rush off to build a fully-functional <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/how-to-establish-product-market-fit-for-your-online-marketplace-with-a-high-fidelity-mvp/">high-fidelity MVP</a>, it’s important to first find out if there’s a real problem in your chosen market and whether customers are willing to use and pay for your solution. The best way to validate this <strong>problem-solution fit</strong> is with a low-fidelity MVP as part of the discovery phase.</p>



<p>In this blog post, we will explain what a low-fidelity MVP is, why it is useful in the discovery phase of marketplace development, and how to create one.</p>



<h2>Definition of a low-fidelity MVP</h2>



<p>A low-fidelity MVP is a simple and cheap way to test your assumptions about your product and market. It does not have to be a fully functional product, but rather a prototype, a mockup, or even a landing page that shows the main value proposition of your product. The goal of a low-fidelity MVP is to get feedback from potential customers as quickly and cheaply as possible, without spending too much time and money on development.</p>



<h2>The discovery phase in marketplace development</h2>



<p>The first stage of building an online marketplace is known as the discovery phase, where you identify and validate the problem you are solving, the market you are targeting, and the solution you are offering. On a practical level, it means gaining an in-depth understanding of user personas, user flows, and business parameters.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The discovery phase helps you avoid building something that nobody wants or needs, and instead focuses on finding the <strong>problem-solution fit</strong>. Problem-solution fit means that you have a solution that solves a real problem for a specific segment of customers who are willing to pay for it.</p>



<h2>Advantages of a low-fidelity MVP</h2>



<p>A low-fidelity MVP can help you evaluate the various components (features) of your solution in terms of friction and impact. There's no sense in wasting resources on features that irritate or confuse initial users. Using a low-fidelity MVP in the discovery phase has many advantages:</p>



<ul><li>It helps you test your assumptions and hypotheses before investing too much time and money into development.</li><li>It helps you get feedback from real customers and learn about their needs, preferences, and behaviour.</li><li>It helps you iterate and improve your product based on customer feedback and data.</li><li>It helps you reduce the risk of failure and increase the chances of success.</li></ul>



<h2>Types of low-fidelity MVPs</h2>



<p>There are many types of low-fidelity MVPs that you can use in the discovery phase of marketplace development, depending on your goals and resources. Some general examples include:</p>



<h3>Landing page:&nbsp;</h3>



<p>A landing page is a single web page that showcases your value proposition, your target market, and your call to action. You can use a landing page to test your value proposition, generate interest, and collect email addresses or sign-ups from potential customers.</p>



<h3>Explainer video:&nbsp;</h3>



<p>An explainer video is a short video that explains what your product does, how it works, and why it is valuable. You can use an explainer video to demonstrate your product concept, show its benefits, and attract attention.</p>



<h3>Mockup or wireframe:&nbsp;</h3>



<p>A mockup or wireframe is a visual representation of how your product will look like, without any functionality or interactivity. You can use a mockup or wireframe to show your product design, layout, and features, and get feedback on usability and aesthetics.</p>



<h3>Prototype:</h3>



<p>A prototype is a simplified version of your product that has some functionality and interactivity, but not all the features or polish. You can use a prototype to test your product functionality, user experience, and value proposition with real users.</p>



<p>You can discover more specialised low-fidelity MVP types in our blog post: <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/choose-right-mvp-type/">6 Minimum Viable Product types You need to Look at Before Building your Product</a></p>



<h2>The difference between problem-solution fit and product-market fit</h2>



<p>As we mentioned earlier, problem-solution fit and product-market fit are two important concepts in the discovery phase of marketplace development. But what is the difference between them?</p>



<p><strong>Problem-solution fit </strong>means that you have validated that your solution solves a real problem for a specific segment of customers. To achieve problem-solution fit, you need to answer questions like:</p>



<ul><li>What problem are you solving?</li><li>Who are you solving it for?</li><li>How are they solving it now?</li><li>How does your solution solve it better?</li></ul>



<p><strong>Product-market fit </strong>means that you have validated that there is a large enough market that is willing to pay for your solution. To achieve product-market fit, you need to answer questions like:</p>



<ul><li>How big is your market?</li><li>How much are they willing to pay?</li><li>How do they find and buy your solution?</li><li>How do you acquire and retain them?</li></ul>



<p>Problem-solution fit thus comes before product-market fit. You need to first find a solution that works for a specific customer segment before scaling it to a larger market. However, both are iterative processes that require constant testing and learning.</p>



<h2>Well-known online marketplaces that used a low-fidelity MVP to establish problem-solution fit</h2>



<h3>Etsy</h3>



<p>Etsy is a global marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. The founders of Etsy started with a paper prototype, which is a simple sketch of the main features and user interface of the website. They used this prototype to test their assumptions about the customer problem, value proposition, and market size. They also interviewed potential sellers and buyers to get feedback on their idea. The paper prototype helped them validate that there was a demand for a niche marketplace that connects crafters and customers.&nbsp;</p>



<h3>Airbnb</h3>



<p>Airbnb is a platform that allows people to rent out their spare rooms or properties to travellers. The founders of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/airbnb_the-evolution-of-airbnb-activity-7054511213984038912-12o9/">Airbnb used a landing page as their low-fidelity MVP</a>. They created a simple website with photos of their own apartment, which they offered to rent out during a conference in San Francisco. They posted the link on various forums and blogs, and managed to get three bookings. The landing page helped them validate that there was a market for peer-to-peer accommodation rentals, and that people were willing to pay for it.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Airbnb-2007.jpg" alt="Airbnb 2007 first version" class="wp-image-8843"/><figcaption>The first version (2007) of Airbnb was pretty much just a landing page built by co-founder Nathan Bielarczyk.</figcaption></figure></div>



<h3>Zappos</h3>



<p>Zappos is an online retailer that sells shoes and clothing. The founder of Zappos used a functional prototype as his low-fidelity MVP. He went to a local shoe store and took photos of the shoes he wanted to sell online. He then uploaded the photos to a simple website, and waited for orders. When someone ordered a pair of shoes, he went back to the store, bought the shoes, and shipped them to the customer. The functional prototype helped him validate that people were comfortable buying shoes online, and that he could make a profit from it.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Conclusion</h2>



<p>A low-fidelity MVP in the discovery phase of online marketplace development can help you validate your problem, market, and solution quickly and cheaply. By using different types of low-fidelity MVPs, such as landing pages, explainer videos, mockups, wireframes, or prototypes, you can test your assumptions on real customers. Their feedback will allow you to iterate and improve your product until it solves their problems in a satisfactory manner. This will set your marketplace idea up for the next phase: <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/how-to-establish-product-market-fit-for-your-online-marketplace-with-a-high-fidelity-mvp/">How to establish product-market fit for your online marketplace with a high-fidelity MVP</a></p>

Why marketplace startups should test problem-solution fit with a low-fidelity MVP

product-market fit

Guide to Minimum Viable Product: Make Something Out of Nothing

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<p>A Minimum Viable Product is a tool, not a magic spell that will fix all of your business’s problems. It is not a cure all where all you need to do is murmur “M-V-P” three times and achieve your goals. <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">An MVP is a process</a>, and one that can go awry if you do not do it right. <a href="http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/03/minimum-viable-product.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eric Ries defined an MVP</a> as <em>“that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”</em> MVPs are about getting to know your customers better so that you may build a better business. For more on what an MVP is, check out <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/design-test-mvp/">our ultimate guide to an MVP</a>.</p>
<p>The focus of this post is to highlight the importance of an MVP in software development. Too often, software development is focused on developing a solution and too little attention is given to <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/startup-problems/">whether the problem being solved is important or valuable</a>.</p>
<p>One of the worst things that can happen to a team is to build something that no one needs. It kills momentum, it destroys motivations, it eliminates team cohesiveness. MVP principles puts a premium on testing everything so that you can identify any and all issues early, allowing for you <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/pivoting-startup-business-purpose/">to pivot if necessary</a> and to ensure that you build a product that people will use, and more importantly, pay for.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>MVPs in Software Development</strong></h2>
<p>Everyone wants to build that perfect product that is in their heads; they do not want to “waste” time iterating. Why build something less than what you can build? The instinct to “do better” is often quantified as adding more features and “doing” more in regards to the product. <a href="https://www.parc.com/blog/from-lean-startups-to-open-innovation-success/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">People over-invest by developing their product instead of developing their knowledge</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Your job as an entrepreneur is not to build a specific product, but to develop a solution to a problem that your customers feel acutely and are willing to pay a good amount of money to resolve. Your deliverable is your customer’s relief, not some piece of software. Shifting your focus from your product to your customers is the first step to becoming an entrepreneur. At every step of development, you should be seeking customer insights and developing intuitions about what they need. This intuition, more than any technology or innovation, will be your unassailable competitive advantage.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>An MVP is meant to help you make this shift, and in that way it’s name is misleading. By emphasising the “product” instead of the experience, many entrepreneurs believe that an MVP is just a minimal collection of features randomly tossed together in an effort to see if people respond. That is an incredibly inefficient approach. An MVP is an experiment, and it should be developed as such, with each small adjustment or iteration targeted towards addressing a specific, measurable question you have.<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>MVPs are used to focus your attention on a “series of hypotheses that you need to test.” For some, an MVP doesn’t even need to be a product — it can be anything that answers a question about a market you want to enter: <a href="https://www.agileplannerapp.com/blog/building-agile-planner/choosing-an-mvp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Surveys, landing pages or a video can all be an MVP</a>. Others define MVPs as the minimum product that allows you to deliver value to a customer, and in turn, get value back.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>MVPs were developed as part of the Lean Startup Method, which is about building your business and understanding your customers through a repeating, scientific process. It is a repeating process of hypothesise, test, synthesise, and adjust based on how customers respond to specific features and applications. The Lean Startup Method works especially well with Agile Development.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Agile Development was devised to mitigate the risk of building a product that customers won’t buy through a incremental development. As with the Lean Startup Method, the focus is on iteration; the development and testing of small changes. By building in small chunks, businesses can avoid disastrous coding errors. Agile can also be applied to customer base development. By testing multiple iterations of your MVP with potential customers, you can easily learn what elements you are thinking about works for your customers and what elements don’t. This can help you avoid disastrous over-investment in unpopular products. For more on <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/scrum-lean-startup/">how the Lean Startup Method and Agile Development can be applicable to your business, click on this link</a>.</p>
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<h2><strong>MVP Basics</strong></h2>
<p>So here is a quick reminder of how design and build an MVP, which can be found <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/design-test-mvp/">in more detail at this link</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Prediction</strong>: Make a prediction that will identify a need or want in the market that people will pay to resolve. Identify what success versus failing short would be like for measurable results beyond just profits or revenues.</li>
<li><strong>Design</strong>: Prepare a design that will solve that need or want, and make sure it can be built relatively quickly and cheaply.</li>
<li><strong>Test</strong>: Put that design out into the field, and see how the market reacts. Release the product so you can best test your prediction; if you’re making a product for one market niche, make sure you target that niche when conducting your test.</li>
<li><strong>Review and Revise</strong>: Review the data from the test phase, and make new predictions. Maybe failure was due to a specific element, but your customers liked everything else? Maybe you can achieve more success if you add an element or take one away?</li>
</ul>
<p>There are a lot of <a href="https://newtome.wordpress.com/tag/eric-ries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">different hypotheses to test</a> and they can be grouped into several different areas. Each area may need to be tested at different points during the development cycle. Below is a list of each different category of hypotheses, in the order of when they should be tested to ensure minimal misplaced effort and investment.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Assumption:</strong>&nbsp;These hypotheses must be tested first because these speak to the foundation of your business. Important assumptions include whether you are trying to solve a problem that is important to your customers, whether your customers will pay for a solution to that problem, and if your solution actually solves the problem.</li>
<li><strong>Need:</strong>&nbsp;Your product should only be as complex as it needs to be and no more. Need hypotheses focus on what elements need to be included in your product to so that it achieve the end it sets out to resolve.</li>
<li><strong>Uncertainty:</strong> Uncertainty can addresses questions that come up during development. Coders can be unclear what development choices to make when building a product. Testing can resolve this indecision.</li>
<li><strong>Impact:</strong>&nbsp;Impact hypotheses is about understanding which features and elements of your website app are the most important to your customers and which are not. These tests help you better understand how to market and develop your product so you can maximise your value to your customer base.</li>
<li><strong>Cost:</strong> These should be things you should test towards the end of development as you move toward building your refined product and after you have absolute confidence that you know what the customer needs and what they like. Testing cost hypotheses is about learning how to build a product that provides the best user experience, but at the lowest possible cost.</li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">While doing your iterative testing with your MVP</a>, it is also important to differentiate the difference between a complex feature to build versus a feature that makes the system more complex. A complex feature to build is something that will be expensive to develop initially, but does not make navigating or iterating your system more complex. A feature that makes the system more complex might not be expensive to build initially, but makes future iterations slower and more expensive because all future adjustments would require additional steps. Decisions regarding which type of feature to test first will vary based on context and where you are in development. In a future post, we will discuss how to determine the priority and which feature to build. (subscribe to our email list to be notified)</p>
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<h2><strong>Approaching Excellence with MVP Approaches&nbsp;&nbsp; </strong></h2>
<p>There are lots of different ways to build an MVP, and there is no single best approach. Making the best choice for your MVP is a very contextual decision. Below are a few different approaches on building an MVP and how each can address a key area of your business development.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Build your product, iterate your product</strong>. This is the most straightforward approach to MVP and is probably how most entrepreneurs would approach the challenge. The key to this approach is to begin with building something quite small, but engaging, and working your way up from there. It can be quite easy to build something that is a little to large, with a few too many features, and therefore stray from strict MVP principles. This risk is heightened because you do not get any customer feedback before you start to build. Only pursue this route if you have some experience prior to building that provides some suitable basis for making early design decisions.</li>
<li><strong>Build a landing page, generate leads, build the product, iterate your product</strong><u>.</u> The benefit of this approach is that you get feedback from your customers early before you begin developing software. The landing page in this approach should describe the problem you are trying to solve and provide a sketch of the solution you are planning on building. At the end of the page, you ask for some identification information and an email address if they are interested. This allows you to gauge interest in your product as well as cultivate a list of potential customers. This can help you assess whether your assumptions about your product and market are correct, and will guide you on building the product.</li>
<li><strong>Start a blog, build a community, build the product, iterate your product</strong><u>.</u> This is more involved than a landing page, but the content you receive can provide more insight and build a more passionate user base. A properly blog provides you with the opportunity to receive more detailed feedback from potential customers, as well as the chance to act direct questions of your potential customers allowing you to iterate your ideas without building a prototype. You also stand the chance of building a passionate following before you draft one line of code.</li>
<li><strong>High Fidelity Prototype</strong>. A lot of people think that the back-end is the first thing that should be developed since it acts as the “engine” for the application. However, many people start with the front-end to gauge customer interest. An interactive front-end can give people a sense of what the product is, even if all the functionality is not there, which will allow your potential customers to provide in-depth feedback for future iteration. At CobbleWeb, we like building interactive prototypes with <a href="https://www.axure.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Axure</a> or interactive design with <a href="https://www.invisionapp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Invision</a> to get quick, detailed feedback from customers. We find this works especially well for B2B clients.</li>
<li><strong>Smoke Test.</strong>&nbsp;A smoke test is like a landing page except the customer is asked to pay up-front instead of just asking for a name or email. An example of this approach is a crowdfunding site, such as Kickstarter. This approach provides you with a higher level of certainty regarding the interest of your potential market. It is one thing for a client to ask to be kept informed; this does not put him at risk and there is no commitment. By having clients pay upfront, you get a pretty clear signal about whether what you are building is valuable and can be monetised.</li>
<li><strong>Demo Video.</strong>&nbsp;A demo video is a two to five minute explanation of your business’s proposed value proposition in terms of what problem you are going to solve and what functionality you plan on providing. It saves you the trouble of building a prototype, while still providing a sense of interactivity for the viewer. The comments on the video can provide valuable feedback on whether your product is valuable and can help you form early hypotheses to test with a prototype. Demo videos have been used very effectively by many startups, most famously by DropBox.</li>
</ul>
<p>MVPs can be crucial when building your business, as it can help you develop a strong foundation for your success. However, MVPs only work when the focus is on what your customer needs and not on what you could potentially build. Iterating your MVP without receiving customer feedback is a waste of your time and resources, so be sure to budget in user outreach to your process.</p>
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Maximize Results with the help of an MVP

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most entrepreneurs begin their start-up with a picture of a perfect product rather than an MVP. It solves huge problems and people gladly pay significant funds to obtain it. This product perfection is smooth, clean, and filled with features that appeal to every demographic and better lives.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you are very lucky that perfect product will be something you will end up with eventually, but it probably won’t be possible for years and only after constant testing and iterating. Instead of seeking perfection from the outset, you should begin with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). While your MVP won’t look like the product you have in your head, it is the most valuable part of your product design process. If you design and test your MVP correctly, you will build a sound foundation for your business and that perfect product.</span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/brain-dumping-min-1-300x145.jpg" alt="Clear your mind - MVP" class="wp-image-1093"/></figure></div>



<h2>Clear Your Mind</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first step in building an MVP might actually be the hardest. Entrepreneurs are creators who are motivated by making their idea a reality. These concepts are generally complex, nuanced, and “perfect.” But complex and nuanced is rarely perfect, and never on the first try.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is possible is doing one thing simply, quickly, and well and to use that product to make sure that you are creating something that people need. This product will not be able to solve all problems, but it should be able to address an issue that is a pain point for a group of individuals that would be willing to pay for a solution.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Human nature has a tendency to admire complexity, but to reward simplicity,” said Brad Fell, co-founder of the incubator <a href="https://www.techstars.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">TechStars</a>. “The more complicated you make your business, the harder it is to expand it. So stick with proven solutions and keep it simple. You may have to give up a few features here and there, but you'll be more nimble as a company.”</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you look at the transformative entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs, they all preach simplicity. But simplicity doesn’t mean lack of quality. Focus on doing the simple things really well. Identify and develop for a smaller group of customers at first, but make sure that their experiences with your products are unforgettable. This mindset sets you up to achieve early successes, which will motivate you for the <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">iteration process</a>.</span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/maze-304913_640-min-300x162.png" alt="Identify your #1 Problem - MVP" class="wp-image-1104"/></figure></div>



<h2>Identify Your #1 Problem</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you have committed yourself to doing simple well, it is time to identify the problem your product is going to solve. This step is crucial, because how well you solve the problem you choose will be how your product and your business is judged.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Steve Blank, the author of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strategies/dp/0989200507/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Lean Startup</a>,</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> advocates that entrepreneurs focus on the simplest problem customers have that would be willing to pay to have solved. This runs counter to what many salespersons and marketers want to do; marketers think the more features you have the larger the pool of potential customers.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The marketer’s approach divides your attention and decreases the possibility that you will be able to provide an exceptional experience for your target customer. There will always be room for growth later; by focusing on smaller more attainable goals you can create a company that is defined by excellence and attention to detail, which will make expanding your market easier in the long-run. </span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Identifying your target problem is simple. Find representatives of the customers you want to reach and ask them what their problems are. Don’t ask what they want to solve those problems; they will provide you with a long list of features that will make it hard for you to keep it simple. A few problems will come up routinely. Pick the easiest to solve and begin your design process.</span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/512px-Potters_wheel_PSF-min-273x300.png" alt="Design your MVP" class="wp-image-1106"/></figure></div>



<h2>Design Your MVP</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you are first starting out, you need to build a low-fidelity MVP and focus on validating the MVP. (We’ll discuss <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/high-fidelity-mvp-transition/">high-fidelity MVPs and when to use those later in the series</a>). A low-fidelity MVP is meant to test one thing; are you solving a problem with a service for which customers will pay? It is meant to test whether you identified the right “number 1 problem” for your business. As we discussed in <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/choose-right-mvp-type/">the last post, there are several different types of low-fidelity MVP</a>. But each type of MVP needs to do a few things.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First, you need to be able to measure responses. It is not enough to build something and see if people say they like it or if they visit your website. You need a metric that will provide evidence, one way or the other, regarding your product’s “fit” with your target market.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Second, your low-fidelity MVP needs to provide you with feedback outside the target metric you are evaluating. This MVP testing techniques will lead to better iterations in the future. If many of your customers are clamouring for a feature or asking you to use your product to address another problem, you will know what your next step in the development process will be.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, you need to develop your low-fidelity MVP as quickly and as cheaply as possible while still achieving the top two goals. Many entrepreneurs set out to build their prototype first and use that as their MVP. But building a prototype can be expensive, time consuming, and emotionally devastating if you do not get the results you are expecting. By developing an inexpensive MVP that you are not as emotionally invested in, if you get new information that reveals an alternative approach to what you were considering you can easily pivot.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/choose-right-mvp-type/">common examples of low-fidelity MVPs</a> include landing pages, surveys, powerpoint presentations, and design mockups. All of these require little in the way of coding or development, but if done correctly can provide the basics of what problem you are going to solve and why it is important to your customers. </span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The goal of this MVP is for your customers to take an action to affirm that they are interested in your concept</strong>. Possible actions include getting potential customers to submit their email address so you can keep them apprised of your product’s development to getting them to prepay for your product when it becomes available.The goal is for low-fidelity MVP to get the customer to make some sort of commitment to you and your company; the more commitments you get, the more likely your product is a winner. </span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/laboratory-33466_640-min-266x300.png" alt="Test your MVP and Iterate" class="wp-image-1108"/></figure></div>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>



<h2>Test Your MVP and Iterate</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Testing and iterating comes down to one thing; finding the balance between being responsive to what you learn but not overreacting and losing your unique value proposition. That means that a lot of times your response to testing shouldn’t be to add, but to subtract. Here are a few different responses your MVP will get during testing and how to interpret it.</span></p>



<ul><li style="font-weight: 400;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">You receive a ton of complaints from your users</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. This is a good thing. If your users are not complaining, they aren’t invested in what you are doing and wouldn’t try to make it better. Complaints reveal passion and an interest in making your product better..</span></li></ul>



<ul><li style="font-weight: 400;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your customers are disinterested.</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> If you are convinced that this is the market you want to target, but these customers you are testing do not engage your MVP the way you like, you have two choices. You either need to leave the building and find a market that will appreciate your MVP as it is or design a better MVP for the original marketing audience.</span></li></ul>



<ul><li><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>You get a lot of feedback and requests for new features</em>. This is especially dangerous for entrepreneurs because their <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/building-mvp-top-mistakes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">instinct is to build</a>. But more features distract from your unique selling proposition, which is why people come to you in the first place. In the early days especially focus on the one facet of your product that keep people coming back. Keep a list of the potential features to revisit after you have perfected your one core feature.</span></li></ul>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The purpose of an MVP is not to optimise your product, but rather to learn about your customers.</strong> If you make them happy, your company will be successful. Focus on them, give them what they need, and you will build that perfect product - even if it doesn’t look like what you thought it would in the beginning.</span></p>



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How to design & test a Minimum Viable Product

<p><i></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">In sports, you might see a Most Valuable Player and wish he was on your favorite team; surely the addition of that one player would make your organisation better. But that is not how it works. For a Most Valuable Player to make a difference, he needs to fit within your organisation’s strategy, enhance its strengths, while mitigating its weaknesses. It is not about getting a star player, it is about getting a star player that is right for you.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) are designed to test how committed to your product potential clients are - not how interested they are in it. You are in business to make money, and interest does not convert to sales. But commitment...commitment is something that motivates people to buy. </span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/design-test-mvp/">Last post we discussed the process of developing an MVP</a> and touched on how low-fidelity MVPs can be crucial to guide the early days of your company development. The best low-fidelity MVPs are the ones that are quickly built and effectively test your prospective customers commitment to your product. So long as the MVP can effectively validate your assumptions in a quantifiable manner, it works. The only issue is that there are a variety of &nbsp;low-fidelity minimum viable product (MVP) types you can choose from.</span></p>



<p>In this post we will focus on the different low fidelity MVP types and help you find that right version for your organisation.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/people-146963_640-min-300x225.png" alt="Pre-order MVP Model" class="wp-image-1114"/></figure></div>



<h2>Pre-Order MVP Type</h2>



<p>A Pre-Order MVP is about getting people to commit money to purchase a product that hasn’t been built yet. The most well known method of building a pre-order MVP is using a crowdfunding platform like <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Kickstarter</a>. A company will go onto this platform and describe the product it wants to build, its ability to build it, and a description of how the funds collected will be allocated. Finally, the company promises to produce the product if it reaches a certain level of pre-orders by a certain time. If it does not achieve that level of funding in time, it is not required to produce the product.</p>



<p>If the customer likes the product, she will pre-order the product and generally provide her credit card. &nbsp;She is only charged if the company achieves its stated level of pre-orders.</p>



<p>Pre-Order MVPs allow you to directly test the most important assumption of your product; that people will pay money for it. Pre-Order MVPs work especially well for products that need a base of customers in order to be sustainable or require a upfront cost to build. Pre-Order MVPs are also highly scalable, as the more commitment you generate, the more money you get to build more products.</p>



<p>In practice, every startup will get attempt some version of a pre-order MVP, whether it is through a crowdfunding campaign, getting a letter of intent, or initiating a pilot program.</p>



<h3><figure><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1116 aligncenter" src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/linked-152575_640-min-300x225.png" alt="Audience Building MVP Model" width="300" height="225"></figure></h3>



<h2>Audience Building MVP Type</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Audience Building MVP doesn’t generate revenues like a Pre-Order MVP does, but measures your potential customer base’s engagement with the product. You construct an Audience Building MVP by reaching out to your potential client base through communication channels, such as blogs or social media, and developing communities around the service you are trying to provide. If there is a large enough group of interested users, you can justify taking the next step and investing in a working product. </span></p>



<p>Audience Building MVPs work best for online products, especially if they are social media based. If your team has or can generate a lot of content easily, this might also be a relatively cheap and easy way to validate some of your product’s underlying assumptions. This MVP also works well for offline business such as consultancies, doctor offices and venture capitalists.</p>



<h3><figure><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1119 aligncenter" src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/concierge-148625_640-min-300x300.png" alt="Concierge MVP Model" width="300" height="300"></figure></h3>



<h2>Concierge MVP Type</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Concierge MVP is seemingly counter-intuitive, as you take the automation out of the process you want to automate. Instead of building a prototype, you provide the style of service manually to a small group of test customers. The key here is to provide the level and type of service you envision your final product providing - no more, no less. For this MVP type, it is crucial for the test customers to understand that the service is being provided by a person and that in exchange for this personal attention they must be willing to provide extensive feedback.</span></p>



<p>The downside of this MVP is that it is not scalable at all, but it is not intended to be. The benefit to the developer is that it allows her to get hands on experience seeing how a potential client will work and use their service. Plus, the developer gets paid for using the service. So not only are you measuring a client’s commitment to using the service, but you are also lowering your overall risk by gaining a better understanding of how the service will be used.</p>



<p>Concierge MVPs are great in situations where your potential clients are offline or not comfortable with technology and where customer satisfaction is a decisive competitive advantage. It is also especially useful where logistic issues are difficult to gauge and operational investments to develop an effective online MVP is very expensive.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/wizard-mvp-min-300x82.png" alt="Wizard of Oz MVP Model" class="wp-image-1127"/></figure></div>



<h3>Wizard of Oz MVP Type</h3>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Wizard of Oz MVP is a variation of a Concierge MVP. Instead of the customer being aware that they are being helped by a human, the MVP is made to look like the process is automated. The benefit of this is to strip away some evaluation issues with Concierge MVP; people are more likely to give negative feedback when they think the problem originates with a machine as opposed to individual performance. </span></p>



<p>The Wizard of Oz MVP has the same scalability issues as the Concierge MVP, as well as most of the same benefits. &nbsp;This MVP type is best for businesses that will eventually need sophisticated technology for their service to work in industries that are particularly sensitive, such as finance or health.</p>



<h3><figure><img class="alignnone wp-image-1131 aligncenter" src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Single-Case-300x176.png" alt="Single Case MVP Model" width="361" height="212"></figure></h3>



<h2>Single Use Case MVP Type</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Single Use Case MVP focuses on one facet or aspect of the larger issue you want to tackle. For this MVP type to work, you must hyperfocus on this one area and do it exceptionally well. The user experience and design must be impeccable (<a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/product-usability-vs-product-market-fit/">this is not necessary your product-market fit</a>). The benefit of this approach is that Single Use Case MVPs are generally faster to build and easier to explain to potential customers.</span></p>



<p>This MVP type is challenging because the lack of complaints about it doesn’t signal something good; it means that people aren’t engaging with it because they don’t see the value of the solution to their business or needs. If you aren’t hearing complaints, it means you have to adjust the assumption that your MVP was testing.</p>



<p>This MVP works especially well companies with an established building or product that are looking to innovate or spinoff a product or for a small business trying to enter a market with established, expensive alternatives.</p>



<h3>&nbsp;</h3>



<h3><figure><img class="alignnone wp-image-1139" src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1495661755_95-min-1.png" alt="Other People's Product MVP Model" width="200" height="200"></figure></h3>



<h2>Other People’s Product MVP Type</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Similar to a Wizard of Oz MVP, this version uses a competitor’s services to test the underlying assumptions of the product you want to build. For example, you provide a version of the product you wish to provide by supplementing the information you are able to pull from a competitor’s API. The benefit is that you are quickly able to build an MVP using resources that you know are focused on addressing the same issues as you are and you get to learn more about your competitors. It is important that prior to attempting this MVP type you ensure that you are not violating any of your competitor’s terms of service, or you may be open to a lawsuit.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This option works for teams with limited engineering resources entering into an industry where there are a lot of competitors and difficult to predict logistics.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Regardless of what MVP type your business choose, never lose sight of what all of these variations are supposed to do - test the commitment of your customer base as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Focus on providing the best representation of what you are trying to achieve and remember that bigger is rarely better in the early days</span></p>

6 Great Minimum Viable Product (MVP) types You need to Look at Before Building your Product

<div>Being&nbsp;successful in business depends on one thing: <strong>selling something that customers&nbsp;will buy at a cost they can afford.</strong></div>



<div>&nbsp;Not achieving&nbsp;that goal is the No.&nbsp;1 reason companies fail. Building a series of minimum viable&nbsp;products (MVPs) allows you to create products you know people will&nbsp;buy, thereby minimizing your risk. Here is how you should build your MVPs to get&nbsp;the results you want.</div>



<h2>Focus on the Problem that Sells</h2>



<div>The goal of your product is&nbsp;for people to purchase it; it's not enough for customers to merely say they&nbsp;want something. Conversations with your customers to find out what they&nbsp;want can be a good thing and teach you a lot,&nbsp;but those conversations&nbsp;are not MVPs.</div>



<div><figure><img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6Mb4UDz4A7kPjO9O/giphy.gif" width="366" height="276"></figure></div>



<div>The point of an MVP is to test whether a product is something&nbsp;customers will purchase.&nbsp;<a href="http://andrewchen.co/minimum-desirable-product/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">The key is to focus on whether something is&nbsp;viable</a>, or something that could be a functioning business. If you are an&nbsp;engineer you might focus on whether it is feasible to make, or if you are&nbsp;in sales you might be concerned whether your product is desirable. But&nbsp;if your product does not make enough money to be self-sustaining, the other&nbsp;two don't matter. Therefore,&nbsp;your MVP should be sold and&nbsp;not given away. Selling your MVP is the only way to determine whether&nbsp;your customers will buy the product. The goal should be to sell&nbsp;your MVP to the&nbsp;minimally sufficient number of customers.&nbsp;You want&nbsp;to expose your product to enough people so you get a good understanding&nbsp;of which customers would be interested. At the same time, you don't want to expose your entire&nbsp;customer base to a product that's not yet finished.</div>



<div>The idea is to&nbsp;design&nbsp;your MVP roll-out to ensure that you&nbsp;can release a product, learn how your customers respond to it, and then&nbsp;make changes based on those observations.</div>



<div><figure><img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/YYYoMU3x0RvPO/giphy.gif" width="361" height="283"></figure></div>



<div>If you put too much effort and features into your early MVP, it might&nbsp;be difficult to alter your product based on what you learn. However, you&nbsp;need to make sure you don't try to overcompensate when you scale back features&nbsp;in early prototypes. When some designers start building their MVP, they&nbsp;often focus on&nbsp;the "minimum" part of the term. This is a mistake because in their rush&nbsp;to build a simple, minimal product they&nbsp;<a href="https://uxdesign.cc/the-tyranny-of-the-minimum-viable-product-fb25e2e57e6e?__hstc=23243621.f3cafb6a7a19981d21f7583ea432dbd3.1468105118941.1472514326119.1472574107552.182&amp;__hssc=23243621.2.1472574107552&amp;__hsfp=1551434154" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">don't ensure the product&nbsp;is viable</a>, which provides poor data for them to use when they try to make&nbsp;improvements.</div>



<div>&nbsp;</div>



<div>When designing your tests and MVP to assess your assumptions,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/darden/2016/06/07/how-to-design-your-next-minimum-viable-product-3-case-studies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">consider the following four factors</a>:</div>



<ul><li><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Persona</span>:</strong>&nbsp;This refers to the customer&nbsp;you are targeting with your product. It describes the basic, relevant characteristics&nbsp;that you need to address with your product.</li><li><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Problem Scenario</span>:</strong>&nbsp;This describes&nbsp;the situation you are trying to address with your product.</li><li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Alternative</strong></span>:&nbsp;This facet describes how your customers are currently dealing with the&nbsp;situation your product is meant to address.</li><li><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Value Proposition</span>:</strong>&nbsp;This describes&nbsp;why your customer should buy your product to address your problem scenario&nbsp;and details why it is better than the alternative.</li></ul>



<h2>Identify, Prioritize,&nbsp;Maximize From Assumptions</h2>



<div>The key, especially early in the MVP process,&nbsp;is to test the most important features and assumptions first and then add&nbsp;the bells and whistles with later iterations.&nbsp;<a href="http://hatchery.io/blog/how-to-do-mvps-right" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">An assumption is risky&nbsp;if it has the potential for making a big impact but the likelihood of it&nbsp;occurring is relatively low</a>.</div>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/false-assumptions-min-300x200.jpg" alt="false assumptions - Iterating MVP" class="wp-image-1244"/></figure></div>



<div>The assumption that has the potential to&nbsp;have the biggest impact is likely to be the core of your product. Your earliest MVP&nbsp;should be&nbsp;<a href="http://andrewchen.co/minimum-desirable-product/?__hstc=23243621.f3cafb6a7a19981d21f7583ea432dbd3.1468105118941.1472514326119.1472574107552.182&amp;__hssc=23243621.2.1472574107552&amp;__hsfp=1551434154" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">focused on the core, and most likely riskiest assumption, of&nbsp;the product you want to build to determine&nbsp;if there is a business there</a>. You need to test the core assumption as&nbsp;soon as possible because if the customers don't appreciate that feature, the product will fail.</div>



<div>&nbsp;</div>



<div>Once you have identified all your assumptions, write them down. Also, note how you plan to test each feature.</div>



<div><figure><img class="size-medium wp-image-1247 aligncenter" src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/road-map-assumptions-300x291.jpg" alt="road map assumptions-Iterating MVP" width="300" height="291"></figure></div>



<div>This provides you with a road map for testing. Test one or two assumptions at a time to ensure you don't get ambiguous results.</div>



<div>It is important to remember that it is very rare&nbsp;for your assumptions to be completely independent of each other;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.skorks.com/2011/11/what-is-a-startup-or-a-startup-idea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">how a&nbsp;customer responds to one assumption might very well influence how she reacts&nbsp;to another</a>. So when you chart your assumptions and plan how you test them,&nbsp;be aware of how different factors might influence your results and try&nbsp;to adjust for that.</div>



<div>An MVP is developed along two criteria;&nbsp;<a href="https://stefanroock.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/lean-startup-a-classification-of-mvps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">fidelity&nbsp;and coverage</a>. Fidelity describes how close your MVP is to your original&nbsp;completed concept. So a high fidelity MVP would be a complete, tangible&nbsp;prototype that a customer can use with all the bells and whistles while&nbsp;a very low fidelity MVP might be a written description or interview. Coverage&nbsp;describes how many customers you try to reach with your the MVP; the more&nbsp;customers the higher the coverage. Early on when you have many assumptions&nbsp;to test, you should use low fidelity and low coverage MVPs since these&nbsp;sorts of experiments can be quickly performed and provide more info faster.&nbsp;As your assumptions begin to be verified and there are fewer unknowns,&nbsp;you should then shift to a higher fidelity, higher coverage MVP.</div>



<h2>Building&nbsp;With&nbsp;Purpose</h2>



<div>Now that you have&nbsp;identified what you need to accomplish and what assumptions you need to&nbsp;test, it's time to build your MVP.</div>



<div>For you to learn the most about your&nbsp;customers,&nbsp;<a href="https://uxdesign.cc/the-tyranny-of-the-minimum-viable-product-fb25e2e57e6e?__hstc=23243621.f3cafb6a7a19981d21f7583ea432dbd3.1468105118941.1472514326119.1472574107552.182&amp;__hssc=23243621.2.1472574107552&amp;__hsfp=1551434154#.upvexv8lz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">the MVP must&nbsp;be stable and usable</a>. If the product doesn't deliver on its promises, you&nbsp;can't know if the features are something customers want. When designing your&nbsp;MVP, limit&nbsp;<a href="https://steveblank.com/2010/03/04/perfection-by-subtraction-the-minimum-feature-set/?__hstc=23243621.f3cafb6a7a19981d21f7583ea432dbd3.1468105118941.1472514326119.1472574107552.182&amp;__hssc=23243621.2.1472574107552&amp;__hsfp=1551434154" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">the number of features to only those that test your assumptions</a>,&nbsp;but make sure that those features are well designed.</div>



<div>These few features&nbsp;probably won't thrill your customers at first. What you need to do is find&nbsp;your&nbsp;<a href="https://steveblank.com/2010/03/04/perfection-by-subtraction-the-minimum-feature-set/?__hstc=23243621.f3cafb6a7a19981d21f7583ea432dbd3.1468105118941.1472514326119.1472574107552.182&amp;__hssc=23243621.2.1472574107552&amp;__hsfp=1551434154" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" rev="en_rl_minimal">"early adopting"</a>&nbsp;customers — those clients for whom the problem your&nbsp;MVP solves is so painful that they are willing to accept a less-than-perfect&nbsp;product now and hope to get the perfect solution later. These are the clients&nbsp;who will have the patience for using your MVP and will give you the best&nbsp;data for future iterations.</div>



<div>Follow these steps and you will increase the likelihood of developing a product that has a faithful customer base and is profitable.</div>



<p></p>

How iterating the MVP can be your Most Valuable Process

<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_4703-min-290x300.jpg" alt="The M in MVP Doesn’t Mean “Mistake” - Building MVP" class="wp-image-1155"/></figure>



<h2>The M in MVP Doesn’t Mean “Mistake”</h2>



<p>Now that you have a basic understanding of <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/design-test-mvp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">what a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is</a> and why it is important to developing your business, it is time to caution you about a few common mistakes people make while building their MVP.</p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All of the most common mistakes with MVPs are caused by the same thing. When you are developing your MVP and expose it to a test audience, it’s easy to become distracted. It’s easy to lose sight of what will make you business successful and neglect those advantages to pursue a bigger market segment or create a flashy new feature. This will lead to expensive rework, lack of focus, and a <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/09/25/why-startups-fail-according-to-their-founders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">failed product</a>.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The purpose of MVPs is to learn more about your users and make adjustments accordingly, so it might seem counterintuitive that the best way to avoid problems is to stay the course. But as you will see in the examples listed below, it is actually about finding the right balance between flexibility and focus.</span></p>



<h2>Your Test Audience is Too Large</h2>



<p>When you initially conceive your product, it’s easy to see it’s going to be something everyone is going to use. The problem or problems you envision fixing are so universal that, quite frankly, you believe that at some point everyone will be using your product. As a result, you might be tempted to build your product with everyone in mind.</p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>You might be right about your product being something everyone needs, but you cannot begin your development with that in mind.</strong> If you begin by trying to please everyone, you won’t be able to do anything well. You have to <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/283963" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">narrow your focus and design your product for the market segment</a> that will get the most use out of your product immediately. &nbsp;</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An example of an organization avoiding this trap is Facebook. Obviously, Facebook is a platform that seemingly everyone uses. But it didn’t start off that way; the original focus was on college students. By customizing their product for a smaller segment, Facebook was able to build a better, focused platform which made it easier for the company to expand later.</span></p>



<h2>Diluting Your User Value Proposition</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">We touched on this in past posts</a>, but it bears repeating because it is the common and devastating mistake you can make while iterating with your MVP. During testing you are going to be swamped with data and ideas from &nbsp;your customers and co-workers. A lot of that data is going to suggest changes need to be made and a lot of those suggestions are going to be good. These items are going to widen your point of view and you are going to be tempted to make large adjustments so your product will be more useful and more popular.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t do it. There will be plenty of time to look into new avenues and directions once you are certain that your product is well-designed and fulfills the needs of your core constituency. If you expand too far, too fast, and you won’t be able to identify what features are causing a positive response and which are causing a negative response. You need to isolate your variables and test them one a time. You need to always keep your customer value proposition front and center during testing.</span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/8020Rule-min-300x203.png" alt="Pareto rule - Building MVP" class="wp-image-1219"/></figure></div>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While iterating during the MVP build, consider adopting the 80-20 Rule. This means that with each new iteration, 20 percent will be new features and fixes while 80 percent of the features will be the same as the last version.</span></p>



<h2>Asking For Too Little From Your First Users</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When seeking feedback about your MVP, you don’t want to overtax your initial users. If you ask too many questions, whether it is about your users or your product, the odds are your potential users won’t participate at all. However, if you don’t ask enough questions, you won’t get the information you need to improve your product. Far too many entrepreneurs ask too few questions to ensure people will participate, but get feedback they can’t use because it is not detailed enough. While it is important to make the testing process user friendly, it is better to have fewer users who give you the information you need. When editing your user surveys, make sure you ask all the questions you need, no matter what.</span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/4622619003_79013cd3e4_z-min-300x169.jpg" alt="4622619003_79013cd3e4_z-min" class="wp-image-1158"/></figure></div>



<h2>Moving Too Slowly</h2>



<p>As an entrepreneur, your one big advantage over your established, large competitor is that you can move faster. &nbsp;You can make changes to your product or strategy quickly because you have fewer resources to direct and fewer people to consult. Too many start-ups squander that advantage because they become ensnared in analysis paralysis - too much information leading to too many options. &nbsp;This paralysis is caused by people becoming entranced by the possibilities and not focusing on the core question - does my product solve the problem we set out to solve in a way that customer will pay for? By keeping your focus narrowed on that question and ignoring all information that isn’t related to it, paralysis won’t take hold and you’ll keep your upper hand over your competitors.</p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ship early and you win early; the more iterations of the product you put in front of your target market, the more mistakes you will avoid, the more you will learn about your features, and, ultimately, the more profitable you will be. Fast, incremental steps with sound footing will let you cover more ground than excruciatingly deliberate large leaps into a potential minefield.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Avoiding these mistakes and staying focused on the goals of the MVP process will let you build the MVP you need now so you can build the product you dreamed of later. At this stage be sure to make the changes you need to make, not the changes you want to make.</span></p>

Building a MVP - 5 mistakes most entrepreneurs make in the process

<h2>Stay Lean, Stay Agile, Stay Hungry: Iterating Your MVP</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We have talked a lot about what an MVP is and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/choose-right-mvp-type/" target="_blank">what it looks like</a>. We have even <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">talked about “iterating”</a>, or building better MVPs as you get new information through testing. What we haven’t discussed in detail is how to do the actual iterating. &nbsp;The key to success in entrepreneurship is the same to surviving in the wild; if you are lean and agile, you thrive. If you aren’t both, you are prey.</span></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/weKozimGUbPMI/giphy.gif" alt=""/></figure></div>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“<a href="http://theleanstartup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lean startup</a>” and “<a href="https://www.scrum.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">agile development</a>” are phrases that have been used so excessively and haphazardly that they have almost lost all meaning. The terms have even been used interchangeably, which is incorrect. While the two processes are often used in tandem, it is still two separate and distinct processes.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This post will answer the question of HOW to iterate your MVP to find your best possible product through lean startup practices and agile development, and how they can work together. Pay attention, because after this post will come the only test that matters; whether you can iterate your way to success.</span></p>



<h2>Lean Startup Is A Process</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lean Startup is about building your business and understanding your customers through a repeating, scientific process. When we talk about about learning what your customers want, whether your product will address that problem, and whether your customers will pay for that product, we are talking about the lean startup process.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is very simple. You begin by arriving at a few key hypotheses. Be sure to limit the number of hypotheses you are testing because if you do too many you will never be able to craft a series of tests to address all of them. When you identify your issues, devise a series of experiments that test your hypotheses. Be sure to identify clear and measurable metrics that will clearly express the results of each test. Then you build a version of your product that can be put through the tests you identify. After you conduct the tests, you review the results and either change your hypotheses accordingly if the tests show you were incorrect or find a new batch of hypotheses to test.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This process should seem familiar to you because we have alluded to it in the past. The <strong><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/validate-problem-solution-fit-for-marketplace-project-with-low-fidelity-mvp/">low-fidelity MVP</a></strong> is your first set of hypotheses in a lean startup process, the <strong><a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/how-to-establish-product-market-fit-for-your-online-marketplace-with-a-high-fidelity-mvp/">high-fidelity MVP</a></strong> your next set. The lean startup method is how your MVPs make sense and how you devise them in the first place.</span></p>



<h2>Agile Development is A Practice</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Agile Development is about building your product, especially when that product is software or a website. Traditionally, products were developed according to the waterfall process. You had to develop the entire prototype, with all of its features, all at once. This process could take months, cost massive amounts of funds, and represent a significant emotional investment. If and when the product is released and fails, the results could be devastating for your business.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Agile Development was devised to mitigate that risk through a series of incremental development. By focusing on individual features through development, and then testing those features for bugs and usability you can avoid overinvestment in faulty or misaligned products. By running a series of “sprints” you still get to the completed product around the same time you would have completed the product through the waterfall process, but with agile development you can be confident that the product is error free with high usability.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Again, this should sound familiar to you, as we have been advocating this sort of process before. We have spoken in prior posts about focusing on single issues and developing them one at a time. Agile development is how you do that. </span></p>



<h2>When You Are Lean and Agile, Speed Thrills</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So you can be lean. You can be agile. But if you want to be successful you need to be both, because only by being both can you achieve an entrepreneur’s true power; speed. Speed is what makes or break a business because it lets you out maneuver your larger, slower competitors. The large volume, incremental releases demanded by the agile method directly supports the crucial lean goal of customer development. With each small iteration of your MVP you release under the agile method allows you gain the lessons, the assumption validation, and the mitigation of risk that the lean process absolutely requires.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So while the agile and lean methods are distinct, different processes, the goals and methods of the two have a symbiotic relationship. Using these two processes properly together is the only way to find your product’s market fit. </span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rise to the top of your industry’s food chain by being lean and agile - don’t be anyone’s prey.</span></p>

Lean Startup and Scrum - How to combine them for the best results

<p><b></b>It is one thing to know your customers have a problem; a low-fidelity MVP is how you learn about what ails your target money. But you only make money if you solve your customer’s problems. <strong>High-fidelity MVP are how you learn if your company merely feels your customers’ pain, or if the product you are developing alleviates your customers’ pain</strong>.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/art-2027294_640-min-300x297-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-8252"/></figure></div>



<h2>High-Fidelity MVP (Minimum Viable Product)</h2>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>A high-fidelity MVP’s sole purpose is to test whether your product solves the problem that your users are having</strong>. This is where elements such as the user interface, user experience, and user engagement are examined. A high-fidelity Minimum Viable Product is where you build your prototype or at the very least a more detailed clickable mockup. </span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your first step is to figure out when you should move on from testing your low-fidelity minimum viable product to the next stage. Unfortunately, there is no obvious signal that you should take the next step. On the one hand, you want to vigorously test your problem assumption. However if you focus on that issue too long you get analysis paralysis. You will never get complete certainty from your low-fidelity minimum viable product, so you shouldn’t look for it. Instead you should move on to your high-fidelity minimum viable product when you are relatively confident you have found your problem. If you need a percentage, shoot for being 85 to 90 percent confidence.</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just as with the low-fidelity MVP, a high-fidelity MVP only works if you choose effective metrics to monitor that accurately represent your performance. The things you should be measuring are tied to customer engagement. Are they ordering your service (if applicable)? How long are they spending on your site using the tools? Are they suggesting your service to others? These are the sorts of things you should be monitoring while rolling out a high-fidelity MVP.</span></p>



<p><strong>Related</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveblank/2013/07/22/an-mvp-is-not-a-cheaper-product-its-about-smart-learning/#51bd4a8f6f0c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">An MVP Is Not A Cheaper Product, It's About Smart Learning</a></p>



<h3></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/bread-32401_640-min-300x150-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-8256"/></figure></div>



<h2>Small Batch Testing</h2>



<p>Once you have built your high-fidelity MVP you will still want to control your audience exposure in the early days since there is a high likelihood of bugs and other small errors that might be diminish the user’s experience. Studies have found you can identify 85 percent of the problems in your MVP by testing it with as small of a user base as five people.</p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you have started testing, focus on how people use the site as opposed to what features your users say they want. People say what they think they want, but how they act in relation to your site better illustrates how they will interact with your product. Focus on the issues that inhibit your users from engaging the site the most, then make as small adjustments as possible to address those concerns. Doing small things to fix big problems will decrease the possibility that in your attempt to fix a problem you lose something that your users like. </span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The key here is to establish a baseline product. You do not want to be adding big, new, flashy features here. Think tinker, not renovate. You need to keep testing and adjusting until you get a product that works, with no bugs, and provides positive evidence that you have a product that will solve the problem you sought to address..</span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Small batch testing is not strictly necessary. It is a good idea if you have an minimum viable product that you are not confident will provide you with quality results in testing due to other flaws not tied to the aspects you are testing; specifically whether your product solves the problem, whether you business model works, and the product’s acquisition and activation processes.</span></p>



<h3></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/5096020716_8bfe30d3c1_z-min-265x300-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-8257"/></figure></div>



<h2>Customer Validation</h2>



<p>Customer validation occurs when you take your high-fidelity MVP to a larger audience. The purpose is to validate your solution and business model. Despite the fact that your product will be in front of a larger audience, <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/design-test-mvp/">the same basic tenants we have been preaching throughout this series of posts</a> still apply. <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">Iteration is key</a>; a series of imperfect MVPs that provide information about your core questions (the problem solving ability of the product, your business model, etc.) is preferable to a “perfect” product that takes forever to develop and ultimately provides too much information to understand what is working and what isn’t.</p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You also need to make your high-fidelity MVP flexible so it can quickly and easily adjust to new information. &nbsp;If you get new information but have built your product in such a way that to make any changes will essentially require you to start from scratch, you have significant problem. Building your product through incremental iterations through agile development will prevent this from being a problem. <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/scrum-lean-startup/">We’ll discuss agile development in more detail in an upcoming post.</a></span></p>



<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">High-fidelity MVPs are a great tool for testing whether your product solves a valuable problem and your business model. It should be the first thing you do when you are ready to test your product-market fit. However, some might skip this step because they are confident in their product and business model. A good example of when to skip this is step is when you are improving an existing product that already has a strong customer base. But be careful. Skipping this step should only be done when you are extremely confident in your product-market fit and that the risk is relatively low.</span></p>

High Fidelity MVP Transition - How To Do It The Smart Way

<p>Product Usability and Product-Market Fit are two considerations every start-up must address when building their business. The success of your entreprise will hinge upon how well you execute in these two areas.</p>



<p>But it is important to highlight the differences between these two features. A common trap is that entrepreneurs will think that if their product is usable, it must have a strong fit to its market. This is not necessarily true.</p>



<p>While usability might be a part of your product’s value proposition, other elements determine your market fit. Those other product characteristics need to be considered and evaluated as well. Some entrepreneurs will focus exclusively on usability and will develop a product that never fits with their market, leading to a failed business.</p>



<h2>Product-Market Fit</h2>



<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product/market_fit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Product-market fit</a> defines the niche in which your business operates. Just as a fish wouldn’t last long in the desert, your product won’t last long if you don’t deploy it under the right circumstances.</p>



<p>For a more business specific definition, product-market fit is about how useful your product is to your target market and whether they are willing to pay for it.</p>



<p>Consider the following pyramid image that relates to your business and what you have to offer to the larger market (<a href="https://leanstartup.co/a-playbook-for-achieving-product-market-fit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more details about the product-market fit pyramid</a>).</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/product-market-fit-pyramid-illustration-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2636"/></figure></div>



<p><em>source: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Product-Playbook-Innovate-Products-ebook/dp/B00SZ638C8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the lean product playbook</a></em></p>



<p>Your market is the basis for your business. Without customers that need something you can not exist; the premise of what you do is based on the needs of someone else. The capstone of your business is comprised of the value proposition that you offer those individuals in need, the features you will provide to satisfy those needs, and the experiences that those individuals have interacting with your platform will define whether people will try your product.</p>



<p>However the product-market fit provides the bridge between the basis for your business and the argument for why customers should try and continue to use your goods or service you cannot guide potential customers from focusing on their needs to the potential value that they can obtain through your products or services.</p>



<p>Something with a good product-market fit satisfies a need that a customer might not even know they have. The product saves them time or makes their production process better or improves the quality of their own product or service. A product with a good market fit is something that, once a customer tries it, becomes so indispensable that they can’t imagine trying to do their job or lives their lives without it. As a result, they are willing to pay dearly for it. That is how you build your business.</p>



<p>Developing product-market fit is a nuanced, involved process that can take many iterative cycles to achieve. We will discuss this process more in-depth in later blog posts, but in the interim consider the following. It is easier to diagnose usability problems than product-market fit issues. People can easily express why they do not find something easy to use, but it is harder for them to express why they do not find something useful. It is the issue of “<em>usefulness</em>” that defines product-market fit and when you find it, that connection between good/service and need will evoke a sense of relief in your customers that will make them dedicated to your business. If the product-market fit is strong enough, it can overcome small usability issues.</p>



<h2>Usability</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/usability" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Usability</a>&nbsp;is about how well your product thrives in its niche. Being in the right environment is not enough; your product has to be optimised so that it takes advantage of all that space has to offer.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mvp-product-usability-product-market-fit-1.png" alt="mvp-product-usability-product-market-fit" class="wp-image-2639"/></figure></div>



<p>Usability measures how well someone can make your product do what it is supposed to do. A website with high usability is easy to navigate. You can find all the information you are looking for easily, and with very few clicks. The most important, most often used information and functions are located in places where the average user looks the most. For the user, it is almost like the site is clairvoyant; as soon as you have a thought of something you might need to do, it appears in your eye line.</p>



<p>On its face, the idea of usability appears to be straightforward, especially in a world defined by Apple products. Usability speaks to the idea that anyone should be able to pick up a product and with minimum effort learn how to use it to do the things that the product was designed to do. That is how it appears and should feel to the end user.</p>



<p>For the developer, however, the challenge of usability is much more complex. For a developer, a product she designs is imminently usable because she built it; she knows where everything is and how everything works. It operates within her worldview and the paradigms and thought structures in her head.</p>



<p>However each potential customer has vastly different paradigms, so how they view and understand technology will vary person to person. This poses a huge challenge to the developer, as it is her responsibility to find the commonalities of perspective among her target customers. What complicates this further is that customers are no longer content with a product that merely works; Apple changed that perspective so that now people need to be delighted with their experience in using a product. An online product needs to evoke engagement and even joy when a person uses it.</p>



<p>It is unquestioned that usability poses a significant challenge to product adoption and ensuring that customers continue to use an online service.</p>



<p>A recent survey suggested that people delete recently added apps from their phone due to ux issues 27 percent of the time, specifically as it related to the user interface.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/business-app-unstall-survey-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2638"/></figure></div>



<p>So the challenge is how can someone build an engaging product but that is still easy to use. The answer is easier to say than to do; balance novelty with expectation. Novelty will engage your customers while meeting their expectations will help them navigate your application. Novelty is easiest to develop when it comes visual display of information. Exciting, engaging images evoke the aesthetic of sensation, or the experience of engaging with something new. This triggers the dopamine rush that encourages individual to repeat actions. In terms of a website or app, dopamine encourages continued use.</p>



<p>This dopamine rush can be extinguished if the customer becomes frustrated by not knowing what to do next. This is where expectation become critical. By structuring your app or website according to generally accepted norms, you can minimise the risk of customer frustration by avoiding common mistakes that poorly designed front-ends tend to make. These errors include:</p>



<ul><li>non-standard GUI (non-standard scrollbars, text and headlines; buttons that do not indicate an action);</li><li>inconsistency (using different words or commands or using the same word for multiple concepts);</li><li>no default values (by not using drop-down menus in your app, you can slow down user interaction);</li><li>user “dump” (when you don’t provide easy-to-understand setup information);</li><li>one screen size;</li><li>small click targets; and</li><li>feature overload.</li></ul>



<p>By mixing unique displays with common structures, you can enhance the usability of your site, making it engaging and easy to use. By achieving engagement and ease of use, your product won’t just be a joy to use – for your customers it will soon become a habit to use.</p>



<h2>Comparison Between the Two</h2>



<p>By now you should be able to see why you need both and the difference between the two standards. Product-market fit is useful to potential customers while usability speaks to whether a customer can deploy the product and get it to do what it is supposed to do. An easy to use product that does not address the needs of the market is not something anyone will pay for, but something that everyone needs but no one can use will actively alienate your potential customers. While usability is of course important, something that addresses a very underserved need for a large audience can overcome small usability issues so it is crucial to address product-market fit first and well in your development process.</p>



<p>Addressing these duel concerns should figure significantly into your lean startup approach and how you develop your minimum viable products. As discussed in prior posts, <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/iterating-mvp/">the first step in the lean process is to build and deploy low-fidelity MVPs</a>. These prototypes should initially focus on addressing questions related to product-market fit. This was already alluded to since most of the questions we suggested you ask during the low-fidelity stage regarded customer needs. Product-market fit determinations always begin by learning what the customers need first. You can’t know how to address a problem until you know what your customers need.</p>



<p>Once those questions are addressed, move on to developing your high fidelity MVPs and focus on usability questions. As discussed in <a href="https://www.cobbleweb.co.uk/high-fidelity-mvp-transition/">prior posts</a>, a high fidelity MVP is closer to the more refined product that you are planning to market on a broader scale, while a lower-fidelity MVP is not. That is why it makes sense to focus on usability at this stage. If you did the low-fidelity MVP testing correctly, you can move forward confident that the item you are making more usable is something that customers will actually want to use.</p>



<p>Product-market fit gives your business its purpose by satisfying a customer need, while usability builds customer loyalty to your product. Both are required for sustainable business growth. </p>

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Cobble Web discusses Lean Startup Pivoting On BBC Radio

Your Lean Marketplace Development Guide

Client Highlights

July 2021

June 2021

May 2021

May 2021

ADAPT OR DIECobble Web discusses Lean Startup Pivoting On BBC Radio

Your Lean Marketplace  Development Guide

ADAPT OR DIE
Cobble Web discusses Lean Startup Pivoting On BBC Radio