This document discusses building a minimal viable product (MVP) by first creating a minimal testable product (MTP). An MTP has the core functionality of the intended product but is not fully-featured or polished. It is built by a small team using the intended software stack and targets early adopters. The MTP should have the fewest possible features needed to test assumptions about market viability and usability. Features are added incrementally based on testing results to iteratively evolve the MTP into a full MVP. Usability testing is critical and involves crowdsourcing users to provide feedback to inform further development.

1. SERGEY SUNDUKOVSKIY PH.D.
MVP Building & Testing Your Set of
“Must Have” Features
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2. Introduction
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3. Background
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4. MVP Core Functionality
Ideal MVP
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5. Ideal MVP
Mini-Me is an Ideal MVP
Core Functionality
 Identical “DNA”
 Same Major Features
 Same Major Functionality
 Same Usability
 Not Up To Scale
 Not As Pretty
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6. Viable For What?
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Eric Ries defines MVP as “…that version of a new product
which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of
validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
Minimal
Product nobody
wants to use
Viable
Product built
by companies
that have no
financial limitations
MVP

7. MVP vs. Prototype
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(prototype)

8. MVP vs. Product
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9. Difficult Determinations
Prototype vs. MVP
 How Do I Distinguish?
MVP vs. Product
 At What Point Do I Stop?
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10. Minimal Testable Product
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11. MTP Questions
What Is MTP For?
Who Builds an MTP?
Who Is MTP For?
What Are the MTP Features?
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12. MTP Purpose
 MTP (what are we testing?)
 Test Concept Viability
 Test Assumptions
 Test the Market
 Test Product Usability
 Test Price Elasticity
 Test Product User Targets
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13. MTP Building
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Who Builds It?

14. MTP Building
 MTP
 Built by a Minimal Viable Team
 How many? (Hint: not a single guy/gal)
 Evolutionary in Its Development
 You are not intending to throw it away
 Built Using Intended Software Stack
 Using starter OS product
 Using starter frameworks (Hint: not talking about a programming
language)
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15. Roger’s Adoption Curve
Who Is It For?
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16. MTP Targeting
MTP Targets Innovators and Early Adopters
Early Adopter Groups
 Educators
 Influencers
 Opinion Makers
 Social Connectors
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17. MTP Features
Less Is Truly More
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18. MTP Features
Intelligent Design and Evolutionary Concepts
 Aim For Adjacent Possible
Irreducible Complexity
 Can’t Take Anything Away
 Can’t Be Simpler
Most Efficient For What It Does
 Most Efficient Wins
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19. Irreducible Complexity
Simplest Mousetrap
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20. Feature Payments
Feature Currency
 Confusion “Payment” for Features
What Do They Mean?
 “This Is Confusing”
Ideal Feature
 Minimal Confusion
 Minimal Multiplicative Confusion
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21. Feature Payments
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Features
Confusion
Ideal Balance
Realistic Balance

22. Path To Intent
Straightforward Path to Intent
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23. MTP Don’ts
Do Not Complicate Things
Do Not Make Users Think
Do Not Make Users Work
Do Not Defy User’s Expectations
Do Not Confuse Yourself With Users
Do Not Assume You Know Everything
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24. Intent Matters
You Will Always Get a Wrong Half
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25. MTP Development
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26. Example Company
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27. Example Company (cont.)
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28. Design Centric Approach
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29. MTP Development Pipeline
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30. Painted Door
Painted Door vs. Real Door
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31. Wireframes
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32. Wireframing Tools
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33. Mockups
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34. Mockups (cont.)
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35. Static Prototype
Wire it together
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36. Static Prototype (cont.)
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37. Prototyping Tools
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38. Mark Up
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39. Dynamic Prototype
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40. Dynamic Prototype (cont.)
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41. MTP Testing
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42. Crowdsourcing
Rise of the Crowds
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43. Mechanical Turk
Microtasking Crowdsourcing Platform
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44. Usability Testing
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45. Usability Study Setup
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46. Usability Study Setup (cont.)
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47. Usability Study User Targeting
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48. Usability Study Micro-Tasking
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49. Usability Study Recording
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50. Feedback
It Is All About Uncensored Feedback
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51. Usability Study Survey
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52. Usability Study Results
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53. Usability Study Results (cont.)
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54. Usability Study Results (cont.)
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55. Was not sure
what to do

56. Usability Testing Tools
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57. Product Testing
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58. Decision Making
HIPPO/Highest Paid Person’s Opinion
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59. Experimentation Testing
ABT – Always Be Testing
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60. Testing History
Aliens Did Not Build Pyramids
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Testing Testing Tested

61. A/B Multifactorial Split Testing
Very Different
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62. A/B Singlevariate Split Testing
Slightly Different
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63. Multivariate Testing
That’s a Lot of Combinations
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64. Experiment Chaining
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