This document discusses the minimum viable product (MVP) concept and prototyping techniques. It defines an MVP as the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. The document encourages focusing on the 20% of functionality that will be used 80% of the time and doing many iterations and pivots based on customer testing. It then describes various prototyping techniques like storyboards, physical prototypes, role playing, and split testing that can be used to test MVPs with customers and gather feedback to refine products.

1. Workshop 4 – The Minimum Viable Product
Mario Reyes
Research Manager P3 Ventures S.A.

2. Objectives of the Workshop
• Understand the function of a prototype and of a
Minimum Viable Product, in each stage of
resolution.
• Bring the solution to its essential features.
• Explore if the solution works in the customer’s
context.
• Prepare the testing of an early prototype of the
solution (Minimum Viable Product). Include in the
plan the objectives and indicators to be measured.

3. Activity 1
• Individually, list the 5 main features of the product
or solution, from the 1st to the 5th, in order of
importance.
• Then, 2 people in each group should present their
exercise.
15 minutes

4. Returning to the Loop of Validated
Learning…

5. Definition of Minimum Viable
Product
“Is that version of a new product which allows a
team to collect the maximum amount of
validated learning about the customers with the
least effort”.
(Eric Ries)

6. Minimum Viable Product Product

7. Focus on the 20% of the funcionality that
will be used the 80% of the time.

8. Do many iterations and pivots
• Iterations: small changes in features specific to
the product.
• Pivot: a big change based on the testing of a
basic assumption of the value propostion.

9. Role of the prototype in a Design
Thinking Process
UNDERSTAND
OBSERVE
DEFINE
IDEATE
PROTOTYPE
TEST

10. Prototype Definition
• A prototype is an integrative tool,
which allows to learn, communicate
and persuade.

11. Traditional Lineal Approach

12. Standard Sequential Approach

13. Suggested Approach
Prototyping multiple Minimum Viable
Products

14. Tools for making the Minimum
Viable Product
• Physical prototypes of low and high resolution
(3D printing):
– Develop tests: split test, A/B test, etc.
• Storyboard (low resolution).
• Low resolution service prototypes.
• “Wizard of Oz” Prototypes (higher resolution).
• Crowdsourcing Test.

15. Visual Thinking
• “Use of visual tools such as pictures, sketches,
diagrams and post-it notes, to construct and
discuss meaning.”
(“Business Model Generation” Alex Osterwalder)

16. The Four Steps of Visual Thinking
Look See Imagine Show
What is it there?
What am I looking?
What are the limits?
What do I see?
Have I seen these
before?
What patterns
emerge?
Which is the most
outstanding?
What is missing?
How can I
manipulate the
patterns?
How can I close the
breaches?
Have I seen enough?
Or do I need to come
back?
This is what I saw
and this is what I
believe it means.
Is this what I
expected or not?
When you see this
Do you see the
same things?

17. An image is worth a thousand words

18. 6 Ways of Seeing
• Why?
• How?
• When?
• Where?
• How many?
• Who/what?

20. To Look vs. To See
• To see is the opposite side of looking. To look is to
recollect visual information; to see is to select and
identify patterns, is to identify the problem.

21. Looking at a problem is the way to begin, but
doesn’t add to the solution. For knowing what to
fix, we need to be capable of seeing what is
damaged.

22. How to Show the Problem

23. Different Levels of Resolution:
Lo-fi vs Hi-fi

24. Different Levels of Resolution
Low Resolution Medium Resolution High Resolution

25. How to do quick prototypes?
Learn from low cost and quick tests.

26. Diverse tools: drawings, storyboards,
videos, etc.

27. • Technique originated in
cinematography. Walt Disney
pioneered it, discovering a
technique that allowed him to
follow up the progress and
improve the story.
• It is a useful exercise to imagine
and create new possibilities.
• The relevant thing is the story
that is being told, the images
just support the story.
Storyboard

28. Storyboard Example
• Offer: Molecular
marker test of marine
species. Certification
of the trazability of
marine products, by
the application of an
aunthenticity test.
This test allows to
know if what is being
sold is authentic.

29. Storyboard Premium: Ipad
app

30. Storyboard 6 keyframes
Keyframe 1 Keyframe 2 Keyframe 3
Keyframe 4 Keyframe 5 Keyframe 6

31. Activity 2: Draw an Storyboard of
the Solution
• Individually, create a storyboard of the solution,
explaining how it fits in the context of the
problem.
• Following that, two persons in each group
should present their storyboard to the rest of
the group and receive feedback from them.
15 minutes

32. Early Prototype: Dropbox
Publish or launch a web site of a inexistent product. When
they access the site, they are offered to be the first ones
in trying the beta prototype if they provide contact
information or answer questions.
It applies to web and physical projects.

33. Early Prototype: Groupon
• They started as a collective activism platform
named El Punto, but they got weak results.
• They promoted themselves using a wordpress
blog and sending pdf coupons.
• They started with the announcement of a 2x1
discount in pizza.
• During the first announcement 20 people bought.
• How much is this company worth today? 12 billion
dollars.

34. Pain Test: Ekidsmovies.com
• Value the quaintity of annoyances they confront
with the problem.
• The web site ekidsmovies.com sent an
announcement in Google, about online movies,
that gave access to the testing web site. Frome
the people who entered, 50% gave their email.
• They were asked to describe the annoyances they
experienced in relation to classifications for
movies directed to kids and the lack of access to
them.

35. The Concierge MVP: Food on the
Table
• The Concierge MVP is a learning process with the
first customers..
• A service that offers the elaboration of a weekly
meal plan, where you can budget expenses in
different stores based on recipes and ingredients.
• At the moment, the sites allows to review
thousands of stores, but they started just with one
store for one client.
• It was the first “concierge” client, who received the
shopping list at home.

36. Wizard of Oz: Carsdirect, Zappos
The intention of purchasing was validated,
without having the whole logistics.

37. Wizard of Oz: Berkeley Pizza
• They started without a physical space..
• They assured themselves there was enough
demand. Only when they showed that there
was enought people intending to pay, the
invested in a location for a restaurant.

38. Crowdfunding Test: Pebble
• Pebble is a digital watch that was funded
exclusively by Kickstarter. The funding of
people is proof that you have potential
customers.

39. Split Test
• A version is tested with one group of
customers, and the other version with the
other group.
• You compare the results with one and the other
version: with or without the feature.

40. Refining
the
Features:
The
100
dollar
test
• Ask the customer to point, between a list of
features, how he will distribute 100 dollar.
• This test allow to understand what features are
the most important for customers. It helps to
focus when you have many features.

41. Ranking System
• Ask the customers to qualify the features that
are more important to them.
• They have to be the feature that better
respond to a problem faced by a customer
segment.

42. “Choice, happiness and Spaghetti
Sauce”
Malcolm Gladwell
(www.ted.com)

43. Apps for Prototyping
• Mobile Prototypes

44. Physical Prototypes
• Quick Prototyping: Physical model of the
project.
• 3D Printing.

45. Levels of Resolution in a Porsche
Prototype

46. Prototype of the First
Mouse

51. IDEO Method:
Supermarket Cart
• IDEO was presented the following
challenge for a TV show: reinvent
the supermarket cart.
• For that reason, they put in
practice their methodology,
observing, generating ideas,
prototyping and refining, until
they got to a result in record
time.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=McabDMc9Z4Y

52. 3D Printing

53. Prototypes(D. School Stanford)
“The only way to do it is
to DO IT.”
“Nothing is a mistake. There’s
no win or fail. There’s only
MAKE”

54. Role Playing
The experience of a product or service, with all
their emotional and sensorial components, it is
better expressed by acting and performing the
role of the customer.

55. Activity: Physical Prototype
• Choose any project from the group that its closer
to a physical product.
• Individually, look for objects you may have in your
sorrouding (any object).
• Build a prototype that represents this product.
• Then simulate that you are introducing the
product to the customer. Simulate an introduction
of the product to your customer.
15 minutes

56. Business Opportunities!...
• They emerge when you there are barriers to
consumption.
– A barrier to consumption means that persons or
companies posses barriers that stops them from doing
certain activities or to consume certain products or
services.

57. Business Opportunities!...
• Also when markets are saturated.
– A market is saturated when the available solutions
don’t add value and the companies are not able to
offer better solutions.

58. • The objective should be to identify the
quantity of non consumption in a market
space.
• You have 4 types of barriers to consumption:
Which are the main Barriers to
Consumption?

59. Barriers to Consumption
You find barriers in:
• Skills
• Resources
• Access
• Time

60. Barriers to Consumption: Skills
• Frequent problems when a new
technology is introduced.
• Heart Start Home Defibrilator
from Phillips, to be used by
people without medical
training.

61. Barriers to Consumption: Resources
• M o t o f o n e b y
Motorola (2006): the
first cel phone for
customer of lower
incomes in developing
nations.

62. Barriers to Consumption: Access
• Online Retailers like
A m a z o n a l l o w
customers to access
to a broad range of
products form every
location.

63. Barriers to Consumption:
Time
• Metro: newspapers
for people without
enough time, that
can be read in the
public transport.

64. Summarizing…
• Barriers
from
skills:
a
simpler
solu>on.
• Barriers
from
resources:
less
costly
solu>on.
• Barriers
from
access:
more
accessible
solu>on.
• Barriers
from
>me:
quickest
solu>on.