After the idea for a new digital product, the question quickly arises of how to test the market demand for this product. Since the idea has not yet been tested or gone through many feedback loops, the goal is to use as little effort as possible in the process. There are three paths to choose from here, which can and should be combined in a meaningful way: MVP, MMP and MVP.
– MVP – Minimum Viable Product
The MVP is the version of a product that contains the core functionalities of the product in order to validate one’s idea. Entrepreneur and author of the Lean Startup approach Eric Ries puts it this way: get as much feedback and experience from customers as possible, with the least amount of effort. The goal is to get as many ideas and impulses as possible to make the product profitable and successful – a particularly important step in establishing digital products and services, which can differ in terms of what they offer and the effort required to provide them.
– MMP – Minimal Marketable Product
Often an MVP makes more sense if a lot of information still needs to be found out and different assumptions e.g. related to the product, the market need to be validated. This makes an MVP less suitable for ideas that have already been validated and whose markets are already established. This is where the idea of a “minimal marketable product” comes into play: It should cover precisely those features that create added value for the user or customer and for which they might even pay. In total, this should therefore already be marketable. To build the MMP, feedback from the customer group of early adopters (first users of the product) in particular also plays a major role.
– MLP – Minimum Lovable Product
An MLP is similar to an MVP and is basically based on the same concept. However, while an MVP can also be, for example, a simple paper prototype that will certainly not evoke any emotions in the user, the MLP aims to do exactly that: to establish an emotional connection with the user through a high focus on aspects such as user experience and design. The goal is for the user to “fall in love” with the product. The MLP is thus intended to create the feeling in the user that he or she absolutely needs this product and thus puts the user-centered view in the foreground.