MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, a stripped-down, simplified product some companies create to get feedback as quickly as possible. MVPs don’t take as long to produce, so a company can get a product on the market with lower development costs. MVPs are the centerpiece of Lean UX design, but not all designers are fans.
How Are MVPs Created?
The MVP is based on assumptions. The design team gets together for a brainstorming session and lists assumptions based on their beliefs about users and what they want. It is understood that these assumptions might be wrong, but hypotheses are formed from the assumptions. The team tests the hypotheses to determine if the assumptions are true or not.
The team works together to create the initial form of the product. It is important for the designers to be in constant contact and to work collaboratively. The MVP can be a low-fidelity wireframe, a mockup with a design style, colors, and icons, or a more functional prototype with just a few features, but the important thing is not that it is complete, but that it works well enough to start testing. The MVP is used to test the hypotheses developed earlier.
Advantages of Using MVPs
One of the advantages of MVPs is to have a version of the product for testing without sinking a lot of development money into it. The team gets early feedback on the product and can make changes as they are necessary. Another advantage is that the company can find out if there is actually any demand for the product. By releasing an MVP, they are not wasting time and energy on a product that is going to fail.
An MVP can also help differentiate between what people say they want and what they will actually buy. People may say they want a lot of features, but research suggests otherwise. Dr. Sheena Iyengar, a professor of psychology at Columbia University, found that the optimal number of choices for humans is seven. Many more than that and people become overwhelmed and freeze up, unable to choose. MVPs allow a team to test the features users want most.
What is Lean UX?
The MVP is central to Lean UX. Traditional project management often calls for a linear progression that can take a long time. Lean UX allows you to streamline that process and create a good enough product quickly. The foundational concepts of Lean UX are collaboration and iteration. This means that the team is constantly in touch and working together to test and improve the design throughout. Rather than a step-by-step process, Lean UX is circular and repetitive. It allows you to go from an idea to a product more quickly and with less expense.
How Does Lean UX Work?
Lean UX works through transparency and responsiveness rather than planning and procedure. It is based on making assumptions and hypotheses, designing from those assumptions, creating an MVP, and testing and improving the product.
This is very different from the common design protocol often referred to as waterfall management. This type of progression calls for everything to be planned out in distinctive steps executed in consecutive order with meticulous documentation. In order for Lean UX to work, everyone on the team must be committed to working together, complete transparency, and repeated testing and tweaking of the product.
Disadvantages of MVPs
Not all designers like the stripped-down approach of MVPs. They work better for small startups than established companies. Small teams with very little money to work with need to get an idea if a product will sell, but focusing on MVP is counterproductive for established companies. Putting out a product with problems and very few features can damage their brand and affect customer loyalty.
Kara Pernice, a vice president with the Nielsen Norman Group, has issues with the MVP approach. Some of her objections are:
- No usability testing before release — Users are commenting on social media on a form of the design that is not what it was ultimately planned to be.
- Distortions of the actual planned UI — The feedback isn’t helpful because the user doesn’t have the full product.
- Modular and disjointed interface — The MVP is focused on particular features rather than a complete interactive design. When multiple MVPs are put together, they often don’t work well together.
- Difficult to change code — Once a design is coded, it is very difficult to get it changed.
Pernice recommends considering doing user research upfront and making sure the MVP is the most usable it can be. Usability research is worth the cost.
Where to Learn UX Design
If you would like to learn more about UX/UI design to switch to a new career, one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for classes. You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn design software and other applications. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a field like UX design is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run from a few weeks to a few months and another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
Conclusion
It’s easy to learn UX design and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s UX design classes. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online UX design courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other UX design bootcamps in your area.