The idea of the Minimum viable product first coined by Frank Robinson, then popularized by Steve Blank’s Customer Development methodology in the 1990s and Eric Ries’ Lean Startup movement in the early 2000s. Ries defined an MVP as a phase of the product discovery process: “the version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”

As the industry embraced the idea of an MVP, they began to receive the rewards of saving time and money and getting feedback rapidly. But over a time, another issue has emerged: We’ve misunderstood the definition and intent of an MVP.

A minimum viable product (MVP) is a development technique in which a new product strategy or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters.

Now, many product designers, product developers and product managers use the MVP as an excuse to be lazy. They cut corners, remove features and sacrifice the user experience in the name of “staying lean” and “shipping.”

Perhaps the problem is that MVP was defined incorrectly in the first place. Instead of a “Minimum Viable Product,” we believe in the “Minimum Valuable Product:” one that has the fewest features necessary to solve the primary problem for your primary market.

Your product must solve at least one real problem, for one real audience, in one unique way. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the user to react, feel invested, do business with you or give you their feedback.

After all, an MVP is just an experiment. As a Product Designer or product strategy developer, you’re essentially doing usability testing to see if your hypothesis is accurate. If even one of the four characteristics above is missing, the test results will be skewed, leading to biased decisions and potential product failure.

Conclusion

Calculating your MVP’s potential market size isn’t the small task. But, it’s a crucial step to decide the direction in which you should take your new business. By taking the time to research and review the data, you can maximize your product’s chances of success in the right market.

Before wrapping up, let’s review the three main ways to calculate your MVP’s potential market size:

Top-down market sizing: Get an inkling of the full picture.

Bottom-up market analysis: Estimate your potential sales.

Competition evaluation: Better grasp the mechanics of your market.