We spend a lot of time talking about MVP’s around here, and that’s because we feel so strongly about their importance. Diving into developing an app without getting feedback from your ideal customers just doesn’t make good business sense. So many companies do it, and we get why. You have a burning idea and you’re certain that it’s so incredible, someone else will do it first if you don’t hurry. The reality is, this does happen. However, it’s still not a good enough reason to skip due process and do things the smart way.
The main goal of any minimum viable product is to test. Our key question is: how many different ways can you test your MVP? You want to test your business idea, test your product, and test your features. Ideally, you want to test every aspect of your business idea to ensure there is a demand. Are people willing to pay for what you’re making? Does anyone even need this? And once you’ve rolled out the product, what features do people want? What can you do to provide the best possible user experience?
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Let’s dive into some solid ways you can test your MVP to get the most out of this process.
- Create a landing page for your product. Use this to capture the email addresses of people who want to be notified when you launch, but don’t stop there. Leverage this page to market your product. Gauge demand for things like preferred features and pricing. This page can be the first step in figuring out what people want from you. You can even allow people to pre-order here.
- Use A/B testing to explore variations of your MVP. With your beta users, have them go through different experiences with your app or marketing to record which performs better.
- Run ad tests with your landing page, and also incorporate A/B testing here too. You can see what features attract the most engagement, and test different marketing messages as well. If you have 5 main “must have” features, which ones are being searched for the most?
- Take the time to conduct customer interviews. Ask your users what they thought, what they liked, what they hated, and what they expected.
- Begin crowdfunding now. You might be surprised to find that the crowdfunding sites are mostly products in the MVP stage, looking to create a buzz and get funding from users. If people get excited about your product, it’s validation. If not, you may need to change something.
- Create content around your idea, and the problems your product solves. Start a blog, create videos, and find online communities where your target audience lurks. Are people interested in what you’re talking about? Can you build a community around your idea?
There’s Always More Testing To Be Done
There are clearly many different ways to test your MVP. One of the most important things to understand from these tests is that you only want to start with your core “must have” features. These core features and design elements are what you’re testing. This leaves room to incorporate your feedback into the final design.
Don’t skip this step and invest in features or design elements that your users don’t want. Do the minimum work possible to get your idea out the door and into the hands of the users, and then stretch that testing opportunity as far as you can. Take full advantage of the insight people are willing to give you, and use that as the driver to create the perfect product.
Post originally appeared on gojilabs.com.