Design Thinking, MVP

Prof. J. Katyayani
Design Thinking
Desirability, Feasibility, Viability
The ideal innovation process is the trifecta of
desirability, feasibility and viability.
A desirable solution, one that your customer
really needs.
A feasible solution, building on the strengths of
your current operational capabilities.
A profitable solution, with a sustainable
business model.
 Desirability
Are We Solving for the Right Pain Point?
 Desirability tests whether your innovation is solving the right
customer problem.
 As an example, let’s look at two emerging markets:
 car sharing
 electric cars
 The customers who are drawn to both are concerned about two things:
 The environmental impact of driving a gas-powered car
 The cost of ownership.
 Tesla has primarily focused on building cars that are environmentally
friendly. While this works for an upscale niche of people, there are
many others who can’t afford to have a Tesla.
 So Elon Musk pivoted last summer to think about both sides of the
equation. Once his cars become autonomous, they can drive others
around after their owner has reached their destination. This pivot can
increase the desirability of the Tesla for their target customer, and
provides direction for the design team to also build for share-ability.
 Feasibility
Are We Building on our Core Operational Strengths?
Feasibility tests whether your innovation
strengthens your business.
Feasibility asks the question, how can we
build this solution to make our business
healthier and stronger?
Looking at the Tesla example again, notice
that they are not proposing they build a car
sharing service and compete with Uber.
Instead they are building on their core
capabilities and brand strength to design an
autonomous car that has been built for the
sharing economy.
 Viability
Does Our Solution Contribute to Long-Term Growth?
Viability tests your value chain for long-term
sustainability.
One of the smartest moves that Elon Musk
made with Tesla is to build infrastructure to
support drivers who needed to recharge for
longer trips. His shift towards designing for
the sharing economy shows similar foresight,
ensuring his cars will be able not only to fit
into this trend, but also to lead it.
How Desirable, Feasible and Viable is your
Innovation?
Iteration is your friend when building this
trifecta into your innovation process.
 At each iteration, testing for these three and
adjusting your strategy will keep you on
track.
 MVP – Minimum Viable Product
A minimum
viable
product (MVP) is
a version of a
product with just
enough features to
be usable by early
customers who
can then provide
feedback for
future product
development.
The minimum viable product is that version of a new
product a team uses to collect the maximum amount of
validated learning about customers with the least
effort. MVP is commonly used, either deliberately or
unwittingly, to refer to a much broader notion ranging
from a rather prototype-like product to a fully-fledged
and marketable product.
An MVP can be part of a strategy and process directed
toward making and selling a product to customers. It is
a core artifact in an iterative process of idea
generation, prototyping, presentation, data collection,
analysis and learning.
One seeks to minimize the total time spent on an
iteration. The process is iterated until a
desirable product/market fit is obtained, or until the
product is deemed non-viable.
Purpose
Be able to test a product hypothesis with
minimal resources
Accelerate learning
Reduce wasted engineering hours
Get the product to early customers as soon as
possible
Base for other products
To establish a builder's abilities in crafting
the product required
Brand building very quickly
 The MVP starts with a product vision, which
is maintained throughout the product life
cycle, although it is adapted based on the
explicit and implicit (indirect measures)
feedback from potential future customers of
the product.
How MVP must be…
Viable Business Idea
It can sustainably and competitively make
money.
In short & sweet “A viable business idea is
one that will turn a profit.”
Criteria for Viable Business Idea
Profitability
High Long Term Demand
Scalability
Uniqueness
Resilience
Professional Team
Solves a Problem in a Way That Is Intuitive
and People Like
Has an Existing Market, or Has the
Capability to Create a New Market
Business Model Canvas for
MVP
The minimum viable product can be designed by
using selected components of the Business Model
Canvas:
Customers: Utilizing the minimum viable concept
here would be useful to determine whether the
selected customer segment actually wants that
product, either from questionnaires or
experimental launches.
Value proposition: In this case, usage of the MVP
would focus more on the technical feasibilities of
the product (whether such value is possible to
deliver using the product).
Channels: MVPs would thus be used here to test
whether a newly proposed method of value
delivery (for example new channels of
distribution, innovations in supply chains) works.
Relationship: MVPs here would be used to learn
if customers would better appreciate a new
method of relationship building, and true to the
MVP concept the test would seek to learn as
much as possible whilst sacrificing the least
amount of brand equity, reputation, or costs
possible.
MVP vs Minimum Marketable Product
It’s important to note that a minimum viable
product is not the same as a minimum
marketable product.
An MVP is a learning vehicle. It allows an
entrepreneur to assess an initial product by
measuring data.
A minimal marketable product, however, is a
complete product that is ready to sell.
 Minimum Viable Product vs Proof of Concept
Proof of concept is also distinct from a
minimum viable product.
Proof of concept tests an idea you have to see
if it’s attainable. No customers are involved
— you just create a small project to assess the
technical capability and feasibility of your
business concept.
You may like to use proof of concept before
moving on to building an MVP.
7 Types of MVP
Software Prototypes: A prototype of a piece of
software is one of the most complex, yet most
common, types of MVPs. It requires building software
with just the core components.
Product Designs: There are a few different ways to
use product design as an MVP, all of which are
especially useful for software, mobile apps, and other
tech tools. The most simple is a sketch, which you can
do by hand or using a tool. Slightly more complex is a
wireframe, which will show things like user
experience, hierarchy, and navigation. Finally, you
have a mockup, which can demonstrate exactly how
your product will work.
Demo Videos: Through a demo video, you
explain what your product will do. Showing
the video to potential users allows you to see
if it’s the kind of solution the market is
looking for.
Landing Pages: With a landing page, you
can announce your new product to quickly
gauge public interest. By asking users to
submit their email address for updates, you’ll
figure out how many people are interested
and gain leads whom you can market to.
Piecemeal: To create a piecemeal MVP, entrepreneurs
bring together components from tools that already
exist to show how the product will work.
Concierge: Through a concierge MVP, you find people
who would like to try out a subscription service that
sends them a personalized selection of products. You
start out manually selecting products for each
individual. If the idea proves successful, you build an
app that analyzes user responses and chooses what
product to send to each person.
Wizard of Oz: Also called manual-first and
flintstoning MVPs, the Wizard of Oz model involves
acting as if your product already exists when, in fact,
it’s still in development stage. This is ideal for many
types of service-based startups.
Examples
Examples
1. Dropbox
Starting out as a demo video MVP, Dropbox
explained the benefits of storing data in one
place. The feedback from users helped the
then-startup receive the funds it needed to
develop its offering.
2. Amazon
Most people know that Amazon began as an
online bookstore. You may be unaware,
though, that Jeff Bezos started out by buying
books from distributors and shipping them to
customers every time his online store
received an order. The high book sales meant
it made sense to keep adding more products
to the store, then acquire warehouses, and
finally provide each user with a personalized
experience on the website.
3. Foursquare
When users began using Foursquare, it had
just one feature. People would check in at
different locations, which allowed them to
win badges. The gamification made people
excited about using the service. Only once
Foursquare had a solid user base did it
expand to become a full city guide
4. Facebook
Upon its release, Facebook was just a basic
social media tool to connect with friends.
Profiles were as basic as could be and
members were all students at Harvard
University. The idea proved popular enough
to be worth expanding, and the platform
gradually added more complex features
5. AdWords Express
When AdWords Express came out, it seemed
like it was automating ad copy. In fact, there
was a team of students quickly typing ads and
delivering them customers. Once it became
obvious that this was a service people
wanted, AdWords Express developed into an
actual automated process
6. Groupon
Today, Groupon is a huge platform, operating
in countries all over the globe. However, it
began as a piecemeal MVP, promoting the
services of local businesses and offering deals
that lasted for a limited amount of time. As
the founders were unable to build their own
content management system at first, they
used a WordPress blog. They waited until
they were successful before scaling the
7. Zappos
The most famous example of a Wizard of Oz
MVP is Zappos. To test his business idea,
founder Nick Swinmurn took photos of shoes
he found at stores to see if anyone would be
willing to purchase a pair without trying it on
first. It turned out that consumers liked this
model!
8. Airbnb
Beginning with the founders’ own apartment,
Airbnb gave people the option to list a room
for short-term rental to earn extra income. It
became clear that travelers were willing to
stay in someone else’s home to save money
on accommodation, and the platform grew
from there
9. Food on the Table
An example of a concierge MVP is Food on
the Table, which sends users recipes and
deals from grocery stores to help them save
money while making meals they’ll love. When
the company was still an MVP, founder
Manuel Rosso chose recipes, created
shopping lists, and found coupons manually.
After user feedback showed that the model
was viable, he set up an automated process.
10. Buffer
Before Buffer actually had its app for
scheduling social media posts, the startup
launched a series of landing pages. The first
landing page just asked people to submit
their email if they were interested in plans
and pricing for the product. The second asked
users if they were interested in a free version
or one of two paid options. As most people
chose one of the paid plans, it was clear that
Buffer had potential.
Advantages/Benefits
Winning Stakeholder/Investor Buy-In.
Testing Business Concepts.
Verifying Market Demand.
Developing a Monetization Strategy.
Testing UX and Usability.
Cost-Efficiency
Disadvantages
MVPs require a lot of upfront work in order
to get reliable customer feedback.
It might require development efforts for
various product releases, which demand
revisions based on feedback.