MVP, which stands for Minimum Viable Product, is the bare form of the product that is capable of solving the user's problem. The idea was best described by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. Rather than a one-off process, the MVP paves a pathway to continuous evaluation of the product features, which fuels further revisions.
But MVP isn’t the starting point. You’ve probably heard of the PoC and prototypes that often go before the MVP. In general, the order looks like this: PoC → Prototype → MVP. In some cases, you can skip PoC if there isn't a need to run a feasibility test. To keep things clear, let’s draw a line between these three stages.
What’s the Difference?**
From the MVP definition, you may come up with some ideas why you actually need to develop an MVP. But let’s make it clear and highlight 4 key reasons:
That’s a good question. Indeed, at some point, the MVP idea got so hyped that one could interpret it like: “I need to build MVP for any business I start”. Well, it is not exactly like that. The truth is MVPs dwell on the territory of new ideas.
“The truth is MVPs dwell on the territory of new ideas.”