Common mistakes to avoid when building an MVP

Nowadays, creating applications and online services has become more accessible than ever before. The market offers millions of opportunities for companies and start-ups to develop in this direction. But to be successful with your project, you must initially develop MVP. This will help you understand whether there will be demand for your product. Also you will avoid investing large sums of money in unclaimed projects. Although MVP development costs less than creating a complete product, it should be taken very seriously. Below you can read about the most common mistakes, so that you will not repeat them in your own experience.

Lack of analytics

Sometimes people who have the money to develop an application start creating it right away. They don't wonder if there will be a demand for their product on the market. They don't do surveys and research about whether people need their application. This is one of the most obvious, but unfortunately common MVP mistakes.

What can you do to make sure that the creation of your MVP has all the chances for success? Of course, first of all, research the market. Make a rough description of your target audience. Think about what all these people have in common, what their interests and hobbies are. Then, conduct surveys among the target audience about what they lack and find out whether your developments will be in demand.

Development without a prototype

Many people who are not in the IT field think that MVP and prototype are the same thing. But, in fact, these are two completely different concepts, which you need if you want to create a quality product.

So, MVP is an incomplete version of a project, often with only one or a few features. It is designed so that a wide audience is able to give you feedback on the feasibility of further development.

A prototype, on the other hand, can also be called an incomplete version of a product, but it has a number of differences from an MVP:

 at this stage, testing of the product takes place only among the developers or a small circle of people

 the prototype does not have operational features, it only imitates the future application

 the development of this solution is less complex and time-consuming compared to MVPs.

Prototyping is an important phase that should not be skipped during development. This decision will save you money and attract potential investors as well as customers at an early stage.

Absence of monetisation implementation

Of course, you shouldn't make the MVP a paid product, because that is likely to push users away. But, at this stage, you have to think about how the application you are developing will generate income for you.

It may be worth testing a few different approaches so that you don't alienate your audience in the future. Experiment with introducing paid features or make unique content paid for. Also, set a small price for it, making sure that your target audience finds it acceptable.

Neglecting quality in the name of speed

Sometimes the team that develops MVP rush to launch this version of the application as soon as possible. Of course this is a good goal, but often quality suffers. As a result, we have a product with lots of bugs and an unreliable security system.

To avoid all these things, it is better to spend a little more time on things like well thought out security and fixing bugs. Using reliable security protocols will help users not to worry about the safety of their data. And at the same time, the audience will not be annoyed by some small flaws that stand against a positive user experience.

Too much or too little MVP functionality

In any business, you have to be able to find the golden mean. This rule also applies to the development of MVP.

Putting too many functions into MVP would be too time-consuming and too costly. At the same time, implementing not enough features would make the use of the MVP very uncomfortable and nearly impossible.

To make MVP effective and successful, answer the question, what is the main purpose of your project? According to your answer, choose the basic functions of the MVP that you want to test.

Already in later stages of development, you will introduce more and more different features that will only improve the user experience. By following this model, users will always be satisfied, as the quality of service will constantly improve.

Read also: Startup Funding Rounds: Seed Series A, B, C

Hiring bad professionals

There is certainly no doubt that it is understandable when business owners want to find the cheapest way to achieve their goals. But it is worth considering that if you start working on MVP with non-professionals, you may not get the results you were expecting.

The best thing you can do to make your project successful is to work with people who are experts in their field. Take the MVP development seriously, because it's the skeleton of your future application.

Choose SDH

Software Development Hub is an outsourcing company that provides software development services. That is why if you are looking for a highly reliable partner, you are welcome to contact us. A team of more than 100 experts will help you to achieve your goals and offer professional guidance at every stage. With SDH the process of MVP development will be clear and effective. We are a team of 100 engineers united around the mission to help tech product companies and startups achieve their goals through IT outsourcing. So, hurry up to contact us and get a consultation!