The four key steps to mastering the MVP development process

MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, is a beta, or a test, version of your product or service. An MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is an important step in the software development process that allows you to preview and test the product to make necessary adjustments before actually releasing the final version with all features. When you build an MVP, it helps you to know the balance between the company’s offer and the customer’s needs. Several cycles of testing will help you to minimize errors and optimize your ideas during the development process.

Step 1: Define the MVP with a PRD

The first step in the MVP development process is defining the product’s purpose, features, functionality, and behavior with a product requirements document. The PRD is the project’s single source of truth, aligning the product team around the user’s problem. It should include:

• The objective (problem statement).
• Ideation information (user personas, user stories, and epics).
• Analysis (assumptions, constraints, and success metrics).

Step 2: Organize the MVP’s Information Architecture

The next step in the MVP design process is labeling and organizing the app’s digital content, such as sections, pages, and features. The result of this process is called information architecture (IA) and can be broken down into two parts:

• Defining the product’s content; and
• Determining the content’s hierarchy.

Step 3: Create Wireframes and Prototypes

Create a Wireframe

With content defined and organized, we can build the app’s basic UI layout with a wireframing tool. There are many benefits of MVP wireframing, namely that it allows us to visualize our product while keeping things lean.

For an app, we’ll wireframe in two stages:

• Sketch the layout of each screen, including sizing and positioning.
• Create a basic UI component library, including headers and footers, content blocks, and menus. These UI components will serve as placeholders until we convert our wireframe into a high-fidelity prototype.

We now have a wireframe with which to visualize the app’s basic layout and functionalities.

Develop a High-fidelity Prototype

With wireframe MVP validated, it’s time to upgrade to an interactive prototyping experience. In contrast to basic wireframing, high-fidelity (hi-fi) prototypes leverage pixel-perfect UI design and animation, and are much closer in appearance and functionality to the final product. We can use them to infer important visual affirmations and gather real-time feedback about our MVP design.

We’ll convert the wireframe into an interactive prototype by:

• Fine-tuning our UI’s branding, such as color gradients and palettes, and typography.
• Applying advanced animation, such as scrolling, tabbing, and micro-interactions.

Step 4: Complete Design QA

Finally, we’ll confirm that everything looks as expected and runs smoothly by clicking through the prototype and verifying that:

•  MVP resonates with the initial product concept.
• The user flow feels natural.
• All use cases have been considered.
• All development bugs have been fixed.

Then, we’ll summarize and communicate any remaining issues to the development team as quality assurance tickets. These tickets can be addressed in a one- to two-week cool-down period before launching the MVP.

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