Importance of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for mobile app development

Building an MVP allows you to see whether the market will accept your app help you know what features you must have to get the acceptance of customers.

The market always welcomes apps, which have become an essential part of an organisation now a days. Everyone organisation is hiring app developers to get an app exclusive for their enterprise, which helps in building trust and direct contact with the customers. All small and big enterprises have an approach of meeting the end customer through their apps. The start-ups are also hiring hourly basis app developers, because everything has gone online and more than other mediums of advertising, apps are becoming the most preferable.

However, it is very difficult to maintain the trust of the end customers and the apps need proper and regular updates. The fortune of an app is not always bright and there are measures that one should take before launching it in the market. A lot of money is invested in building an app. From paying an app developer, who might be a full-time employee or a freelancer, to the content managers and the graphic designers, there is a lot that goes into the making of one single app.

The future of an app might be bright and customers might go gaga over it, spreading a good word of mouth, while there are chances that it might not work at all and all the efforts might go in vain. Either it will bring money to the organisation or the money spent on it will be a loss. Therefore, it is important to take measures to ensure that the app does well and the app developer should try testing the app before launching it in the market.

MVP, known as Minimum Viable Product helps in developing an app with certain features that are essential for the app to go live. It is a procedure of making the user use the app and seeing if he is interested in the updates that you offer through the app and the features of the application. After seeing the response of the users, you can be sure to remove features that were not of interest to them and make additions according to their requirements.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that can be derived from MVP

1-     Cost management: Splurging money on something whose future is not predictable might not be a good idea, especially if you are a start-up and have limited resources to bring your enterprise in the game. You must be sure of the app you are about to launch, because of lot of money goes into the making of it. MVP is the best way to know the outcome of the app and the investment can be done according to it. The revenue generated from the launch of the app should be kept aside for the future updates.

2-     Helps cope with the competition: There is a wide market of apps and with hundreds of thousands of apps coming into being, the competition has gone very high. People tend to download an app out of curiosity and then delete it if it doesn’t interest the. Hence, it is important to test an app first and see if the users rate it higher than the others.

3-     Testing of business at an early stage: Cost-effectiveness can be tested during the early stage of app development. Through an MVP an early testing is possible and the much needed changes can be made at an early stage.

4-     An improved product: MVP has become quite essential in building a polished product. It is through the review and ratings of the users that betterments can be made in the end product, which is of interest to the users. The users are very gullible and easily switch to other apps if they don’t find an app interesting. Therefore, MVP helps in sustaining users and creating a product that is of interest to them.

5-     Funding comes easy: To get a clear rod map of something and putting that up as a presentation in front of the investors will help generate interest. Something that is sure-shot to bring acceptance in the market will get investment and the app can flourish on the money that is spent on that. An app that will bring good returns is highly likely to receive investing easily.

6-     User base is strong: An app has a lot of features and it is upon the developer to see if the users need an ocean of features. Too many features might confuse the user and he might not want to get lost into the features, therefore, it is important to give importance to only those features that the user likes and also keep minimum features to make the app apt for the users who don’t like too many things under one roof.

7-     Quick market entry: All apps can’t sustain in the market for long, some even have a shorter life than expected. Apps should be designer according to the interest of the users and it the users are not adapting these apps, then the future of these apps might not be in good light. Therefore, always check the app and the response before launching it in the market. You might have to delete certain features that are of no interest to the users as these might add up to unnecessary features of no use.

Using an MVP in developing an app is very important as it gives a proper clarification on how to mold the app and the properties that should be included in it. Wasting all the time and money spent on developing an app might affect in the long run when the money is needed for other bigger things for enhancing the business.

Let’s look at the ways an organisation should use

MVP in building an app

• There might be features in the app which you think should be pushed and make the user use those features. To get an instant feedback, MVP is considered the best technique, as the users will directly use it and provide their feedback before the official launch of the app.

• Shiny features must be avoided as it adds nothing to the prosperity of the app. Some features that might look interesting to you might not interest the users. Those features might have been in the market for some years but get no response because they look superficial in the app and hold no benefit for the users. Hence, it is always good to keep such shiny things at bay.

•  You must ensure that the app works well and there are no drawbacks of viruses which might affect the mobile phones of the users. Anything that starts hanging the device the app is being used in might be deleted soon after being downloaded from the app store.

It is good to predict the future of an app before launching it because not always work in your favour. An MVP is the best way to predict the future of the app and see if it can be competing enough and sustain the pressure from other apps. MVP might also help a startup compete with the leading enterprises and give them tough competition. It is advisable to use the MVP before launching an app to ensure success of an app.