A test person using a first version of a product, a MVP

The ‘minimal viable product’ (MVP) is the first version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future improvements. It is coined in the IT industry, where it is common to launch products that are continuously being improved through new releases. An MVP has several advantages, like early market contact and making money that can be used to produce a better product. An MVP has become pretty common in other industries and services as well.

In the Deliver stage, difficult choices have to be made because not everything works out as planned. As a consequence, the budget skyrockets, or deadlines are missed. In order to deal with these problems, some sacrifices must be made, either by adapting the planning (time), the budget (cost), or the product features (quality). Discussing the MVP is a way to manage these difficulties properly, explicating what really is needed for the launch date and what may be implemented later.

A well-known pitfall of an MVP is that it offers an unwanted way out to deal with difficult-to-develop functionalities. For example, teams tend to choose those functionalities in an MVP they feel confident they can make within time and budget. However, an MVP should always be a balance between What Can and What Should be. Sometimes it is better to adapt the planning in order to have an adequate MVP.    

Although MVP's have become very popular, you can not always opt for them. For the exhibition used as an example in this course, it is not a viable option. The exhibit had a limited lifespan and had to be 'perfect' from day 1. However, if the exhibit would also be held in another museum with more exhibition space, thinking about what the MVP is and what can be added later may help to make tough decisions.