When we’re working on a Minimum Viable Product (MVP development) for a client, one of the biggest challenges is deciding what features make the cut and what needs to be iceboxed. It’s not just about cutting things down to the bone; it’s about being thoughtful and strategic. After all, the goal is to build something that resonates with early adopters while still aligning with the business’s bigger objectives.
Here’s how we approach this at Goji.
Structuring the MVP Roadmap
The first step in defining an MVP feature set is understanding two things: user goals and business goals. What are the users trying to achieve, and how does the product help them do that? At the same time, we need to keep the business objectives in mind—what are the metrics or outcomes that matter most to the client?
Once we’ve got those locked down, we start formulating a feature roadmap. This isn’t just a list of “nice-to-haves”—it’s a prioritized plan based on:
- Time and cost to build each feature, typically assessed using story points or timeboxing methods.
- The value each feature brings to the users, often evaluated through frameworks like Kano analysis.
- The value it delivers to the business, such as its potential impact on customer acquisition cost (CAC) or lifetime value (LTV).
The key is figuring out the right balance. That’s where the buckets come in.
The Four Buckets of an MVP Features
We use a framework to categorize features into four buckets, which makes the decision-making process a lot clearer.
1. The Big Bets
These are the heavy hitters—the features that form the core of the product. They’re not always easy or cheap to build, but they’re the reason users are going to care about the product in the first place. Without these, you don’t have a product.
For example, let’s say you’re building a fitness app. A personalized workout generator might be one of your big bets. It’s complicated to implement, requiring machine learning algorithms to generate custom recommendations, but it’s also the thing that sets your app apart. That’s your secret sauce.
From a technical perspective, these features often involve significant backend development, such as setting up a microservices architecture to ensure scalability or integrating advanced third-party APIs for core functionality..
2. The Easy Wins
This is my favorite bucket because it’s all about quick wins. These features don’t take much time or effort to build, but they make a big impact on the user experience.
Think of things like adding tooltips for onboarding or a super-simple “dark mode” toggle. These might not be groundbreaking, but they make the product smoother and more delightful to use.
From a development standpoint, these features often involve front-end frameworks like React or Vue.js and can be implemented quickly using component libraries or pre-built modules.
3. The Incrementals
Incrementals are the “meh” features. They’re low-cost and low-value, so we don’t spend a lot of time agonizing over them. These usually go straight to the backlog until we have more data to prove whether or not they’re worth building.
For instance, we might consider adding super-specific filters to a search function. Is it nice to have? Sure. But is it mission-critical for the MVP? Probably not.
From a technical standpoint, these features are often scoped as low-complexity user stories or labeled as “non-blocking dependencies” in our sprint planning tools like Jira. They’re nice to revisit during a post-MVP phase if we have extra development capacity.
4. The Money Pit
Ah, the money pit. This is where good ideas go to die. These are features that are expensive or difficult to implement and don’t bring enough value to justify the effort—at least not right now.
Sometimes, a feature lands here because we made an assumption that didn’t pan out. For example, maybe we thought users would love a gamified leaderboard, but after running some usability tests or deploying a prototype using low-code tools, we realize it’s not a priority for them.
It might also be that the technical lift is way higher than we initially thought, in which case leaving these features on the whiteboard can save time, reduce technical debt, and allow the team to focus on high-impact items.
Either way, money pit features get parked until we have a better reason to revisit them.
Putting An MVP Feature Set Together
The real magic of an MVP feature set is in how you balance these buckets. You need a few big bets to anchor the product and prove its value, but you don’t want to overwhelm the team with complexity. Sprinkle in some easy wins to make the product feel polished and enjoyable. Keep the incrementals in your back pocket for later. And most importantly, steer clear of the money pit unless you’ve got data to back it up.
Once we’ve mapped this out, we get to work building. But we don’t just set the plan and forget it. As we launch and start gathering user feedback, we continuously reevaluate the roadmap. What are users loving? What’s confusing them? Where are they dropping off? These insights help us refine the product and guide the next set of features we tackle.
Why This Approach Works
At the end of the day, an MVP is about learning. It’s not about getting everything perfect on the first try—it’s about putting something in users’ hands, seeing how they respond, and iterating from there. By using a framework like this, we can stay focused on what matters and avoid wasting time (and money) on features that don’t move the needle.
It’s not always easy to make these calls, but trust me, a well-prioritized MVP roadmap can make all the difference between a product that flops and one that scales.
Now, I know this is a lot. So, if you have any questions, reach out to us—we’d love to help.
This post was written by David Barlev, CEO and Chief Product Strategist @ Goji Labs.