What is an MVP - Managing risks with agile

© Lukas Klose - agile coach & trainer
unleash the power of your teams.
Learn about the secret art of incremental delivery
Join us to discover what an
“increment” is and learn how to
design one through a fun exercise
about building a highway in the
medieval ages

● Outcome: define the
roadmap (deliverables) for
each of the 5 years
● Timebox: 5mins
Build a Road from your Village “A” to Village “B”
Through a Forest...
Village “B”
Village
“A”
Context: You live in medieval times, in a village A in eastern Europe.
Times are tough, and so your village elected a new major, on a platform
of re-igniting the economy. They will do this by building a highway to a
remote village that lies on the other side of a deep, dark forest.
The major will make the multi-million gold-coin budget available through
5 equal installments, over 5 years. You are the Project Manager….

Approaches
Yr Approach 1 Approach 2 Approach 3
1
2
3
4
5

Approaches
Yr Approach 1
(aka waterfall)
Approach 2
(aka incremental)
Approach 3
(iterative & incremental)
1 Analysis Mile 1 Basic Path (foot path)
2 Plan & Design Mile 2 Widen it (Carriage)
3 Foundations Mile 3 Pave it (Cars)
4 Road Mile 4 Two Lanes (two way traffic)
5 Hardware Mile 5 Emergency stops

Let’s Talk about Risks
Building a highway in the medieval ages is a complex undertaking. What are some
of the things that could go wrong?
● Outcome: 3 things that
could go wrong
● Timebox: 5mins

What surprises might you encounter?
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Types of Risks
Business Risks
(are we building the right
thing?)
Technical Risks
(are we building the
thing right?
Financial Risks
(Can we sustain
building it?)

agile uses iterative & incremental
delivery to better manage those risks

Incremental Delivery
Slices the project into small pieces
so each piece fulfills 3 criteria
1. Business value - even very
small
2. Validate business and technical
assumptions
3. Make progress

For example….
(an example of slicing by use case)

Step 1 - Blaze a Trail
MVP No infrastructure, Pioneers only
Value Very low volume trade
Validate
assumptions
Business
Get to know people in village B, can
we trade with them?
Technical
Can this route be used, are there
canyons, passes?
Progress clear path to bring experts for
inspection

Step 2 - Harden the Path
MVP Can’t drive, but can walk with ease
Value Trade a variety of goods, and more
of them… (eg. bicycles)
Validate
assumptions
Business
Do they really mean it?
Technical
Clear path to bring basic machinery
Progress clear path to bring experts for
inspection

Step 3 - Widen the Path
MVP Off-road vehicles, horse carts
Value Steady flow of goods of almost all kinds
Validate
assumptions
Business
Will Trade weightier goods, and lots of
them… (eg. how big is this market?)
Technical
How to pave a road?
Common drainage issues
Progress Clear path for serious machinery

Step 4 - Permanent Road
MVP Most common vehicles (no edge
cases)
Value real-scale trading with trucks going
all day, every day
Validate
assumptions
Business
Still need a highway?
Technical
Can we build on this ground?
Progress Clear path for VERY large
machinery

Step 5 - Highway
MVP Scaled solution
Value All goods, all kinds, very heavy volume
Validate
assumptions
Business
Can we sustain scaled trade over the
long term
Technical
How to build a highway?
Progress Goal achieved

Benefits & Principles of Incremental,
Iterative Delivery

Iterative Incremental Delivery
Each increment ….
Principle #1 - Delivers immediate, appreciable value to customers
● At any time we can use what we have built

Each increment ….
Principle #2 - Validates assumptions/acquires knowledge by getting
customers to use the product
● Customer facing (are we building the right thing)
● Technical (are we building the thing right)

Importance of Validating Live

What the
customer
asked for
How the
programmer
wrote it
How the
analyst
designed it
How sales
described it

How the
project was
documented
What
operations
installed
How the
customer was
billed
What the
customer
needed

What the
customer
asked for
What the
customer
NEEDED
vs.

Compound Interest Principle

Cost of Delay for Errors
design dev test uat launch ops
100x

Each increment ….
Principle #2 - Validates assumptions/acquires knowledge by getting customers to
use the product
● Customer facing (are we building the right thing)
● Technical (are we building the thing right)
Principle #3 - Is a stepping stone to the final product (technical leverage)
● Reusability
● Permanence of solution

Considerations

All
Functionality
Robustness
Features
feature
Robust
enough &
Sustainable
DoD
feature
#1 - Robustness vs. Scope
feature
feature
feature
feature
Full Product

#2 - Cost vs. Benefit
Efficiency
Adaptability
The suitability for using an iterative, incremental
approach is a function of complexity, uncertainty, and
ultimately the need vs. cost of change

#3 - Cost vs. Risk
Iterative &
incremental
cost per unit
Waterfall cost
per unit

#4 - Cost vs. Risk
Iterative &
incremental
cost per unit
Waterfall cost
per unit
Cost of change
in waterfall

Conclusion
● Why?
○ Agile is about managing risks more stringently
○ And early revenue generation
○ And managing complexity
● What?
○ 3 criteria/principles for an agile increment
■ Business Value each increment
■ Validate business & technical assumptions
■ Make progress towards end goal
● How?
○ Slice by use case, audience, target market, etc.
● And?
○ Overhead will eventually pay for itself
○ May be unnecessary for streamlined type of work

Q & A
Consider Watching: links.klose-coaching.com/incremental

Thank you!

What is an MVP - Managing risks with agile

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