IT MVP Guide

How to implement MVP projects in the best possible technical way

IT departments can optimize MVPs with incremental development and continuous delivery

Choosing the right technical approach to development is fundamental to realizing an MVP quickly and sustainably. An incremental approach to development can make a significant contribution to the success of an MVP. If done correctly, incremental software development increases the throughput of changes and promotes an agile mindset in terms of testing and automation.

MVP technical guide cover

Extract: chapter 03

Technical and business advantages of incremental development for MVPs

There are a variety of techniques to deploy new applications to production. Two of the main criteria that should drive the decision for one deployment strategy are the impact of change on the system and on the end-users. In this regard, the sheer number of adjustments involved in an MVP process makes some form of incremental development the best choice.

MVPs and incremental deployments have a lot in common but are not identical. An increment must be usable, but may not contain those features that make the MVP viable. With every Sprint, the increment becomes more enhanced until it reaches a state that is an MVP and the Product Owner can choose to release it.

Industry knowledge

E-Commerce MVPs are more important than ever

MVPs in e-commerce are primarily digital products and services such as online shops, content portals, marketplaces or mobile apps. However, the what is less important than the how. After all, the crisis situation in spring 2020 at the latest has highlighted the importance of being able to act and adapt quickly in changing markets. MVPs offer exactly that and are therefore ideal for fast-moving markets in e-commerce, because no company can afford to take several months to develop digital sales channels or additional digital touchpoints. Depending on the implementation, an e-commerce MVP can go live after just a few weeks and then be further developed based on real user feedback. Speed and customer focus are cornerstones of an MVP and key success factors in digital commerce.

Background knowledge

What exactly is an MVP?

The “Minimum Viable Product” is the preliminary but functional version of a product. Based on an MVP, real user feedback is then collected and the product is further developed accordingly. The demand for and suitability of a product are therefore tested using real user data. Based on that feedback, further development of the product is continued. If the MVP could not prove its worth after the initial testing period, the development will be discontinued and focus shifts to new, more promising ideas. So, on the one hand, the product should be kept as simple as possible so that it can be developed quickly. On the other hand, it must be mature enough in the first step to make it usable for the users.