What is a Minimum Viable Product? How does it relate to and impact UX practice? And what are some strategies we can apply in designing them. MVPs are, in my view, core to an effective Agile/Lean UX practice, and in this talk I offer an introduction to what an MVP is and provide some strategies for how to go about designing an effective MVP. I gave this talk at IA Konferenz 2013 in Berlin. It's an updated version of a talk I gave at Hackers & Founders in Barcelona in 2012.

1. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
The UX of Minimum Viable Products
by Anders Ramsay

2. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
What is a Minimum Viable Product?

3. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
What is a Minimum Viable Product?
The shortest path from idea to validated learning.

4. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
An entire organization is struggling to use a 20-year-old
internal enterprise system.

5. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Pain points
- Entering data into wrong fields.
- Changes sometimes not saved.
- Data often needing to be re-entered.
- Often manually renaming/moving files.
- Some departments refusing to use the
system saying they’d never get any
actual work done.

6. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
“Cool, let’s do some research, model some
personas, create a deck of wireframes, and
start building the new system…”

7. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
“Cool, let’s do some research, model some
personas, create a deck of wireframes, and
start building the new system…”
“No, let’s conduct an MVP experiment:
Find one pain point, try removing it, and see
what we learn...”

8. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
The MVP/Shortest Path to Validated Learning:

9. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
The MVP/Shortest Path to Validated Learning:

10. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Offered riches both in user and tech learning.
Could be implemented quickly.
A success, even if it failed.
The MVP/Shortest Path to Validated Learning:

11. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
The MVP/Shortest Path to Validated Learning:

12. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
vi·a·ble
/ˈvīəbəl/
Adjective
1.Capable of working successfully; feasible: "the proposed
investment was economically viable".
2.(of a seed or spore) Able to germinate.

13. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
“A minimal viable product is...a rolling
series of releases that iterate and improve
based on a mix of data and vision/judgment.”
—Giff Constable, Interaction 2011

14. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Focusing on learning over features...
Persist or
Pivot?
MVP #1 MVP #2 Persist
or Pivot?
...etc.
Experiment
and learn
Experiment
and learn

15. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
MVP vs Product Vision
One step toward a destination on the horizon.

16. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
How does this impact UX design?

17. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Changing how we collaborate
Adopt Agile UX methods to enable fast/high quality cycles of work.
Whole team ideation andvisioning
Effective workshops
Pairing across roles/
disciplines

18. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Changing what we measure
“Is this user-friendly?”

19. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Changing what we measure
“Is this user-friendly?”
“How much would you pay for this”
“How much time would this save?”
vs

20. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Broadening our design focus
Designing and testing
product viability.
Designing and testing
user experiences.

21. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
MVP Design Patterns

22. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Painkiller
Try removing a high-value, low-cost pain point.

23. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Fa$t Money
Try shipping only what you think people will pay for.

24. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Wizard of Oz
Try manually simulating system output.

25. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Go Ugly Early
Try shipping with the most bare-bones UX possible.

26. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Fake Storefront (Archetypal Lean Startup landing page)
Try marketing the product as if already completed.

27. @andersramsay | #agileuxUX Singapore 2013
Be the software (aka “Concierge”)
Try manually simulating the user experience.

28. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Which pattern should I pick?
- What offers the most learning at the lowest cost?
- What best tests your riskiest assumptions?
- Expect to use a combination of patterns.

29. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Bottom line
- Designing MVPs is a craft in its own right.
- Broadens the meaning of UX design.
- Requires melding virtually all aspects of Agile/Lean UX.
- A great measurement of your skill level as a modern UX’er.

30. #agileux | @andersramsayUX Singapore 2013
Thanks!
andersramsay.com
@andersramsay
#agileux
Presentation:
http://bit.ly/ux-of-mvps