How to Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): A Step-by-Step Guide

Building an MVP for startup is a smart approach to reduce risks and validate your product idea. Marketing can be precarious, specifically when you introduce a newly developed product as you cannot tell how consumers will react. This takes us to the idea of a minimum viable product (MVP).

An MVP is an initial product that contains only the most fundamental functions but lets a user experience an application, allows exploring the market reaction and make adjustments before creating the final version. 

Let’s try to explain it with the help of a successful example –

Instagram’s started with a simple idea: sharing photos. Originally named Burbn, the app had a problem of having far too many options which only served to baffle its users.

There were only few options which people liked and among them the option to share a photo was most popular. So, they decided to focus solely on this feature, build your MVP around it, and develop a successful minimum viable product (MVP). 

In just 24 hours after launching in 2010, Instagram gained 25,000 users. Within a year, it had 1 million. This fast growth caught Facebook’s attention, leading to Instagram’s acquisition for $1 billion in 2012.

By focusing on one core feature, Instagram became a huge success, showing how important it is to keep things simple and listen to user needs. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of building an MVP from defining the problem your product solves to collecting user feedback. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap to create a product that meets market demand while minimizing risk and app development cost. Let’s start by understanding what is a Minimum viable product (MVP). 

What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

MVP means the creation of a product with the minimum necessary set of features to meet the key need of users. It is suited to quickly take your product to the market, acquire users in the early stages and to collect the feedback necessary for iterations. When you develop an MVP, you create an early version of your software with just the key features needed to answer three important questions: 

• Do people need your product?
• Does it solve the problem?
• Can it make money?

We believe that an MVP is more than just a basic version of a product. It’s about launching something that’s useful, reliable, and designed with the user in mind. By starting with the essentials, you can test the market, get real feedback, and refine the product based on what your users truly need. 

But when we speak about “least effort” it does not mean that one chooses the path of easiest work and the lowest possible quality. Even your MVP should be as simple as it can be, while providing the value it has to deliver. It also allows you to build better with each round, and that you are indeed creating a product people will embrace. 

Types of MVPs

An important point when creating MVP is to pay attention to which type is best for attaining your objectives with the available resources. At SPEC INDIA, we help clients decide between two main types: the Low-Fidelity and High-Fidelity MVPs. Both have their own usefulness and application when it comes to ideals of how much detail and functionality you want to include in your MVP. 

Low-Fidelity MVPs

Low-fidelity MVPs are basic versions that are quick and inexpensive to make. They’re perfect for testing out ideas and getting early feedback. Here’s how they work:

• Prototypes: Think of these as simple models of your product. They show the layout and look of the product but aren’t fully functional yet. Prototypes give you a way to visualize your product before any coding starts.
• Wireframes: Wireframes are like the blueprint of a house—they show the structure and flow of your product without all the details. They help you understand how users will move through your app or website, which is useful when you’re just starting to build your MVP. 
• Smoke Tests: These are quick ways to see if there’s interest in your idea. For example, you could create a landing page that explains your product and see how many people click to learn more. If lots of people are interested, it’s a good sign that your idea has potential.

Low-fidelity MVPs are great when you want to validate your ideas quickly and with minimal effort. They let you gather insights and make adjustments before you commit too many resources.

High-Fidelity MVPs

High-fidelity MVPs are more polished and often functional. They include core features, so they’re closer to what the final product will look like. Here’s what high-fidelity MVPs usually involve:

• Advanced Prototypes: These are more detailed versions of your product that allow users to interact with it. You can test how people use it and identify any design or usability issues early on.
• Software with Core Features: For this, you build a basic but working version of the software that includes the main features. It’s enough to give users a real experience with your product, which can help you gather useful feedback for improvement.

High-fidelity MVPs are perfect when you’re ready to dive deeper and test your product in real-world situations. They may take more time and resources, but they give you a better sense of how people will actually use your product.

6 Steps to Building an MVP

While this advice encourages quick action, it often leads new entrepreneurs to focus too much on the “Minimum” and not enough on the “Viable” part of an MVP. Due to this we have witnessed some very pathetic products which were failed in the market. There downfall started very soon after the launch. 

For example, when building an MVP for startups, create a simple website using a free subdomain with minimal content. They then label this as their MVP. When it doesn’t attract users, they often assume it’s a failed MVP and start searching for solutions to an “MVP problem.” 

The real problem is that many people don’t understand the steps needed to develop an MVP correctly. To create a successful MVP, it’s important to follow all the necessary steps to ensure the product is useful and meets user needs. 

Here are the 6 key steps to developing an MVP for startup –

• Identify the problem you’re solving
• Research the market and competitors
• Create a prototype of your solution
• Outline the core features
• Build the MVP
• Collect and analyze user feedback

Let’s discuss each step one by one.

#1 Start by Identifying the Problem

Your very first step should be to identify the problem that your solution has by doing research and considering feedback. Once you understand the problem, you can work on a solution. It sounds simple, but it’s not always that straightforward.

Here are some ways to spot a problem:

1. Leverage your expertise: If you are a professional in a certain area, for example, a real estate seller, you might realize some landlords are having a hard time finding buyers for their homes because the photographs of the property are not so good. This could be a problem you can address with your product.
2. Look for dissatisfaction: PTaiichi Ohno once said, “Progress requires dissatisfaction”. If you find yourself unhappy with existing solutions, that feeling can spark innovation. Question yourself. Challenge what you see and hear. Through this you may discover a market gap waiting to be filled.
3. Listen to others: Sometimes, you will hear that there is a problem with someone else. This can be tricky. It can also be an expert or a layman who has the same problem and is willing to share the experience. Hence it is crucial to ensure that the problem exists people are actively looking for some solution.

#2 Conduct Market Research

At times, new concept could be a little off the mark when it comes to what the population would gladly use. Surveying is indeed a useful way of collecting information. It is similar to any other statistical endeavor; the more data you have, the higher your chances of success.

Research shows that the biggest reason startups fail is a “lack of market need.” Simply put, if your product doesn’t solve a real problem, people won’t want to use it.

• Check Out Your Competitors
• Identify Your Target Audience
• Estimate Market Size

CB Insights have mentioned the 12 reasons for startup failure by analyzing 110+ startup failure post-mortems. In their study of 101 startups, 42% failed because there was no market demand for their products.

Your research part should be done strongly. Then only you can achieve your MVP goals on time.

#3 Create a Prototype of Your Solution

Building a prototype is an important step when it comes to develop your MVP. It makes your idea concrete and shows how it may look in real life. 

• A prototype is good because it will help you identify any design issues at this stage and avoid executing them.
• It serves as an effective marketing tool for getting evaluation from the potential users, whether the product is right for them or not.
• Using a prototype can help you build your MVP and make it easier to find funding or support. It allows others to see the value of your project and understand why it’s worth investing in.

In short, a good prototype is key to improving your concept and setting the stage for successful Minimum viable product software development.

#4 Outline the Core Features

At this stage of building an MVP it is important to know which kind of features your MVP will possess. The best place to begin is to find out what users really want. Ask yourself questions like :

• What is wrong with the world that would compel people to use my product?
• What value does it provide?

This is because an effective MVP has to meet the needs of its target audience by providing value that will make the users need it.

Once you’ve gathered insights, categorize the features into three levels of priority:

• High,
• Medium, and
• Low

The MVP’s priorities are mandatory, including features like user registration and main services. Medium-priority features, like notifications or social sharing options, might enhance the user experience, while low-priority features, like advanced analytics or customization options, can be added later.

Hence a clear roadmap is very crucial if you want your product to be successful in the market.

#5 Develop and Test the MVP

Now it’s time to develop the MVP and test it before launching it in the market. Once you’ve finalized the features, it’s time to start developing your MVP, and having a dedicated development team can be crucial at this stage. This is a key stage in the MVP Product development process. Here, you want to find the right balance between making your MVP look professional and keeping it simple. 

Your MVP should be clean and easy to use. When building an MVP focus on creating a product that is free of bugs and high in quality. A polished MVP helps users understand its main benefits. This sets a strong base for future updates and improvements. 

It’s also important to know that there are different types of MVPs. Each type will affect how you develop your product and how long it will take. For example, you might choose a landing page MVP or a prototype. Each option has its own requirements. 

#6 Collect and Analyze User Feedback

Now comes the stage where you want to take the users feedback. They are the crucial part of your product success. We know that collecting and analyzing user feedback is key to building a successful MVP. Feedback helps us understand how users feel about our product. To make this process easy, we set up clear ways for users to share their thoughts. 

This can be through surveys, feedback forms, or direct conversations. 

We focus on asking simple, specific questions about what users like, what problems they face, and what features they wish they had. It’s also important for us to watch how users actually use the product.  

We believe that feedback is an ongoing process. By continuously checking in with users, we can improve MVP to meet our client needs. After all, everyone wants to focus on user input helps us create products that really connect with our audience and succeed in the market. 

Real-world examples of minimum-viable products

#1 Dropbox

Originally, Dropbox pitched its file-sharing service with a short video – this is what it would look like. This video allowed them to know whether people would be interested in their concept before they created the whole product.

That is why more than 70 thousand people signed up for the service of the video, which has not yet started to operate.

#2 Airbnb

Airbnb began when its founders rented out air mattresses in their home during a big conference. They made a basic website to list their space, which helped them test the idea of short-term rentals.

After showing that people were interested in their service, they received $20,000 in funding to grow their business.

#3 Zappos

Way back, the shoe selling business of Zappos began with the company’s basic website known as shoesite.com. Instead they used pictures they got from stores that operate within their region and posted them online. If a man purchased shoes, he had to go and get it and ship it.

Zappos was bought by Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2009, proving how successful their MVP approach was.

#4 Twitter

It started as a podcast service known as Odeo before the company began using the name Twitter. When Apple created their own podcasting platform, the founders chose to concentrate on a plain status update functionality. They put their expertise into practice thus creating the Twitter, now popularly known.

On its first day, Twitter had over 300,000 tweets sent, showing how quickly people loved the idea.

#5 Instagram

Instagram was initially a completely different application, initially known as Burbn, that had numerous options. However, the founders found out that the users preferred using it to share photos. Without that distraction scope, they simplified the app to just that, and it quickly blossomed.

Just within two months of its launch, it got 1 million users, which is why it is crucial to pay attention to real user needs.

Common MVP Development Challenges and How SPEC INDIA Can Help

Moving forward, let’s discuss the challenges of developing MVPs. It is important to fully understand these challenges. When building an MVP knowing potential obstacles can guide you toward viable solutions.

At SPEC INDIA, we better understand how our clients face issues in Minimum viable product software development; hence, we have solutions to every problem. For example, here are a few challenges of MVPs and the solutions we offer against them when you develop an MVP. 

How Do You Identify the Right Features for Your MVP?

One of the biggest challenges in developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is figuring out which features are essential. It is easy to incorporate the ideas in mind but in reality it is quite different. It results into a product that is overloaded hence confusing to the users. 

Picture yourself introducing an application to order a meal that also contains sections for sharing recipes, rating restaurants, and nutritional transformations. All these MVP app ideas are good but puts much pressure on the user and also do not fully maximize the main use of the app which is to deliver food. 

How We Help: In SPEC INDIA, we always start with understanding your target audience. Based on the market research and potential user interviews, we identify, which features can genuinely help your customers. In the specific sense we avoid bloating your MVP with features, making sure it aligns with user needs on day one.

What If You Face Funding Issues During Development?

Among the problems faced by many entrepreneurs is most often to arranging the funds before the MVP is released. During MVP development for startups companies often overlook the associated expenses, which can place a significant strain on their financial capacity. Proper budgeting and planning are crucial to avoid running into financial difficulties during the Minimum viable product software development phase. 

Suppose there is a new startup company that starts creating a fitness app. They spend most of their money just on a nice look and neat functions. But they omit marketing and testing costs, which makes them have no way through which they can advertise their product. 

How We Help: SPEC INDIA is a mobile app development company and we can assist you in creating a realistic budget plan tailored to your MVP needs. Our services allow you to guide your finances more wisely when it comes to distribution of resources as to development, testing, and marketing stages.

How Do You Collect and Analyze User Feedback?

Once you have an MVP out in the market, the next important thing to do is to collect feedback on your product. Still, a lot of companies face challenges in gathering and analyzing this kind of information comprehensively.  

The audience for a travel app created by the team may sometimes be critical. There are some users who prefer it, and others who complained that they cannot understand it. If there is no proper approach about how to handle this feedback, the team may start changing their forms based on some of the opinions they have received instead of representing a large number of users. 

How We Help: We help you to enhance users’ feedback with efficient methods like surveys and usability tests. The place where we are most proficient is the area of business intelligence, in other words interpretation of this data. This makes sure that your product changes in direction as it seeks to provide a solution to the intended market.

How Do You Adapt to Market Changes?

This is one question that is asked most often; How do you adapt to market changes? It is worth to note that the market environment is dynamic in equal measures. Trends change, and users change, and this becomes a big problem for startups that need to maintain the relevance of the MVP they have developed. 

A startup create a social media site that is based on sharing photos may quickly realize that the audience has gone to watch videos. The danger of not adapting quickly is that they will lose their audience. 

How We Help: Looking at revenue sources for SPEC INDIA, you have a point: You do not stop supporting your once-launched MVP. When you build your MVP, we track market developments and use updated information about users’ needs to adjust and improve the product’s direction. We are actively involved to ensure that your MVP not only launches successfully but also sustains and grows in a competitive environment. 

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Minimum Viable Product?

The cost of building an MVP for startups can vary significantly based on several factors, including complexity, features, and the technology stack used. Here’s a breakdown of key elements that influence the app development cost : 

Simple MVP: If your MVP has basic functionalities, like a simple landing page with a few features, the cost may range from $10,000 to $20,000.

Moderate MVP: For an MVP with more features (like user authentication, basic database, and an API), costs typically fall between $20,000 and $40,000.

Complex MVP: If your MVP includes advanced features like real-time updates, third-party integrations, or a more sophisticated user interface, you might be looking at $40,000 or more.

Final Thoughts: Building MVP App Development

The MVP product development process not only proves your concept correct but also encourages the refinement of the product based on the reactions it receives.  

It is important to emphasize again that MVP is not an end, but a start; it is simply the first step to gathering feedback and improving upon it. This lets the product evolve into something that can suit the needs of your users in a way that is most effective. When you are eager to go from idea to the prototype, it is crucial to work with professional MVP developers to avoid difficulties on the way.  

At SPEC INDIA, we can even help create a Minimum Viable Product for your product. We have a dedicated development team of experienced research and MVP app development personnel who appreciate the specific niches of the market.

We are an app development company, and we better understand the client requirements and expectations related to the products that they are planning to launch in the market. Hence we offer them solutions accordingly.

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