MVPs and prototypes

What is an MVP?

MVP stands for minimum viable product. Eric Ries, who popularised the term in The Lean Startup, defines it as "that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort". So the goal isn't a smaller product, it's faster learning: build, measure what users do, and learn from it.

A prototype is the step before that: a visual design of your product, with no working software behind it. A prototype tests whether people understand what you mean. An MVP tests whether they actually use it.

Start small. Learn fast. Only then build bigger.

Build it yourself with AI, or have it built?

You can build an MVP or prototype yourself with AI, and we'd encourage you to: it's a cheap way to find out whether anyone actually wants your idea.

What AI can't give you is someone to help you work out what your MVP needs to prove. Which features belong in the first version, which metrics tell you whether it works, and what do you deliberately leave out? That's where we come in. We work as a product partner: we don't just build what you ask for, we help you figure out what it needs to achieve.

Once real users, personal data or payments are involved, the software has to be secure, keep working as usage grows, and be maintained. AI is a good tool, not a silver bullet. We build your MVP so you can keep building on it after validation.

Already have a first version built with AI? We can review it. You give us access to the code, we assess its build quality, performance and security, and propose a plan for what comes next, with us or with another team.

Does your product fit the market?

Product-market fit sounds like jargon, but you won't find the answer at your desk. You find it by putting an MVP with built-in metrics in front of your target audience: do they use it, do they come back, and are they willing to pay for it? Better to find out it needs to change while the product is still small.

How an MVP project works

• Introduction and analysis: you tell us what problem you want to solve and who for. We work out the smallest version that can answer that question, and what it needs to measure. That research is on us.
• Design and visual prototyping: together we pick the features that tell you the most about your idea. They go into phase 1, the rest waits. We design the screens around your wishes, so you can see how it works, screen by screen, before any development starts.
• Building in phases: we build the MVP with built-in metrics and put it in front of your target audience early. What they do and say decides what goes into the next phase, and whether there's one. Sometimes a web application is the fastest route to your first users.
• Launch and support: after launch we keep an eye on the MVP. If something breaks while your test users are working with it, we spot it before they do.

An MVP that tries to test everything at once teaches you little. So after each phase, you look at what the metrics show and decide whether there's a next one.

What to watch out for with an MVP

Above all: keep it small. With AI, an extra feature is built in no time, and that's exactly why too much creeps into the first version. Logging in with Google, filters, a dashboard: each one looks harmless. But when something goes wrong, the feedback is about bugs in features you didn't need, and your real question stays unanswered.

So start with that question: what does this MVP have to prove? Anything that doesn't help answer it waits for a later phase. What you don't build, you don't pay for or maintain. Our blog post AI didn't kill the MVP, it removed the constraints explains why that discipline matters even more with AI.

After validation: Mamamoon

Mamamoon had already done its first test before we came on board. The founder had tested the idea with a clickable Figma design and gathered first reactions from users. The idea was there, the product wasn't.

We joined as technical co-founder, with IT and product development fully in our hands. Together with the founder we sharpened the concept and turned the clickable screens into a working platform: a web application with an admin portal, apps for iOS and Android, weekly tailored guidance, expert videos and rewards. The founder manages all the content themselves.

Mamamoon now runs on iOS, Android and web, in Dutch and English, and the first users are paying for it. After validation, the real building starts. Want an app on the App Store and Google Play later on? Read more about mobile apps.

Finding users for your MVP

An MVP is only useful if users turn up, so we also help you think through marketing and the launch, as we did for Impackt, StatieApp and Mamamoon.

Curious whether your idea is ready for an MVP? Book a free introductory call with the "Schedule a call" button.