Presented at the Essential Design event at the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane Australia on 22nd of September 2013 http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/Events+and+Exhibitions/Events/2013/09/Essential+Design+The+Essentials

1. The What, Why & How of the
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Presented by Ben Maden

2. What is an MVP?

3. SOMETHING SIMPLE

4. “Everything should be as
simple as it can be,
but not simpler...”
Albert Einstein, 1950
How a "Difficult" Composer Got That Way by Roger Sessions
via quote investigator

5. “... I try to only put into
each work as much of
myself as possible”
Albert Einstein, 1950
How a "Difficult" Composer Got That Way by Roger Sessions
via quote investigator

6. How simple can it be?
Consider these two things...

7. Supply & Demand

8. The Holy Grail - Make Something Desirable

9. Supply
What skills and resources do you have?
What skills and resources do you need?
What do you want to build?

10. Supply
What skills and resources do you have?
What skills and resources do you need?
What do you want to build?

11. Demand
What does the market want?
What does the user need?
How appealing can your MVP be?

12. Ask your market...
What does the market want?
What does the user need?
Consider the appeal of your MVP
Ear Icon by Dirk Unger from The Noun Project

13. Beware... Prioritise
Wants Needs
Market 2 1
A User 4 3

14. Beware... Prioritise
Skull & Cross Bones by Jens Tärning from The Noun Project
Wants Needs
Market 2 1
A User 3

15. How do you ask a Market?
Ask many users and be aware of wants vs needs
and you can get an insight into the demand.

16. How do you ask a Market?
Ask many users and be aware of wants vs needs
and you can get an insight into the demand.

17. How do you ask a Market?
Ask many users and be aware of wants vs needs
and you can get an insight into the demand.
You can also ask Google.

18. But I’m doing something
special that internet peeps don’
t understand...

19. But I’m doing something
special that internet peeps don’
t understand...
1. The users don’t need to understand
your “special” thing here
2. You need to find and understand
their wants and needs

20. 3. Internet peeps are real
people. 82.3%* of Australia’s
Population are Online
4. and that’s 2012 data and we’ve all got
way more ipads and smart phones online
now
* Australian Population Internet Use is 82.3% according to Wikipedia citing UN data

21. How? Type a Need or Want into
Google.... DON’T PRESS ENTER
I heard this at Mozcon 2012 Wil Reynolds of SEER Interactive. Excellent Blog Post by Hoa Cong.

22. 5. We’re doing something
special too, get specific...

23. 5. We’re doing something
special too, get specific...
Excellent You Tube video here by Michael Palin - The Minstry of Foods
Expand on this with who, what, where, when, why and how

24. Demand
When you’ve got input about wants and needs
consider importance and marketing potential...
Basic Discriminator Energizer
Positive Non-negotiable Differentiator Exciter
Neutral Tolerable Dissatisfier Enrager
Negative So what? Parallel
The Entrepreneurial Mindset by Rita Gunther McGrath, Ian C. MacMillan, p71

25. Supply
What skills and resources do you have?
What skills and resources do you need?
What do you want to build?
What is the most important part(s) of an MVP?
Remember this?

26. Give me an M

27. Give me a V

28. What, no P?

29. If you focus on the Product and
what you want...
You *will* over-engineer it. It won’t be an MVP.
What if... you under engineer it?

30. Under-engineered Product?
You will disappoint some customers until
it can be delivered. Use this to your advantage.
A
impossible
B
unlikely
C
probable
D
likely
E
often
Trivial Low Medium
Inconvenient
Minor
Serious
Dangerous High Extreme

31. Cultural Dimensions
Transparency and openness can be
an huge marketing opportunity.
Are you an underdog?
Share your story.
Cultural Dimensions by The Hofstede Centre
http://geert-hofstede.com/australia.html
Magnifying Glass Icon by John Caserta from The Noun Project

32. Emotions and personalities build trust - Start a Blog

33. Build Trust - Be REAL
Use any short-fall in your product
to improve, evolve AND include
your users to build a community.
Examples
https://getsatisfaction.com/
http://moz.com/community
Twitter search for #RCS

34. MVP Tips
1. Market Wants and Needs - use Google
2. “Minimum Viable” - don’t over-engineer
3. Get it shipped
4. Be Transparent - Tell your Story
5. Fix issues fast - Develop the product
Magnifying Glass Icon by John Caserta from The Noun Project

35. Questions?
Download the slides here....
http://bit.ly/130922mvp
Ben Maden, Director of Matter Solutions
Twitter @bmaden
ben@mattersolutions.com.au

36. Credits
Coconuts Photo Mark Turnauckas on Flickr Creative Commons
Ear Icon http://thenounproject.com/ungerdirk
Skull & Cross Bones Jens Tärning, from The Noun Project
Rope: Royalty Fee Stock Photo bought from ShutterStock.com

37. Bonus Slides
The Classic Mistake

38. The Classic MVP Mistake
Huge Product, won’t sell
Fix: Cut it hard and cut it deep

39. “None shall pass” - No one buys a confusing product

40. Begin the process of removing features

41. “Only a flesh wound” - Cut more away, get to the core

42. Cut back until you have something simple to market

43. Take care to cut out the extraneous bits, not more

44. Down to an MVP - Get on with marketing and selling

45. Get out there, tell your story