We’ve talked about MVP a lot and by now, you probably know why MVP is so important. However, we totally missed the question that many clients ask and the question is “What’s next?”

In this article, we’ll explain what will be waiting for you after the successful MVP development and what the MMP and MLP abbreviations stand for. Ready to learn some new things? Let’s get started.

MVP: an initial stage of the product development

We just can’t get enough of MVP so let’s quickly explain it one more time. MVP stands for a minimum viable product and can be seen as a working prototype of your final product with a limited set of features. A good example would be a bicycle (MVP) vs a car (final product). Both products serve the same goal (getting users to a destination) and both share the core functionality (wheels and a handlebar/steering wheel. However, a car is a more advanced type of vehicle and has a number of extra add-ons that are not necessary for completing the initial goal. Sure, it’s more fun to travel with music and air conditioning but music does not power your car and impacts nothing but your mood.

So why would you want to invest in MVP development instead of a full product from the start? Here are the main reasons:

• Testing the product with real users: by launching a successful minimum viable product, you will be able to collect feedback from relevant and real users and will better understand what they expect from the product.
• Remaining within a limited budget: because MVP has only core functionality, you won’t spend too much on its development.
• Easily changing the product on the go: MVP allows very flexible customization and editing so you can tweak the product as needed until the final launch.

The main thing to remember when working on an MVP is its functionality. It’s easy to get carried away and create a minimum viable product with dozens of features. So in order to limit its functionality and ensure it doesn’t have any unnecessary functions, you should:

• Define your target audience and its needs,
• Analyze the competition (see what it does right and wrong),
• Define the USP (unique selling point) and the value proposition of your product.

Once you have a clear idea in mind, you can list down all the features that you’d like to include and prioritize them as a high priority, medium priority, and low priority. High priority (and medium priority in some cases) features are the ones that users expect and need to see in your app and that ensure its smooth functioning (like the “search” option for an e-commerce store). And when the list of the features is ready, you can move on to building an MVP.

The next step: from MVP to MMP

The next stage in developing the final product is MMP aka minimum marketable product. You can refer to it as “version 1” that you roll out to the market. While the main goal behind the MVP is testing, the MMP’s main goal is to actually sell the product to customers.

So what makes MMP different from MVP? Here are its biggest features:

• You are 100% sure of your audience and its preferences while with MVP, you are testing it.
• You understand what kind of user experience your customers expect.
• You know what features should be included in the MMP so users appreciate them.

As you can see, MMP is quite well-defined, compared to MVP. Sure, an MMP may lack certain add-ons, but overall, it is a product ready to be sold.

You can build your MMP by using MVP as a base. In this way, you will get a shorter development time (since almost all features are already done) and a shorter time-to-market. And if your MMP suits the needs of your users, it can become an early source of revenue which is another benefit.

But we are not done yet! Now comes the turn of MLP aka minimum loveable product.

MLP: what is it and how to build it?

As a minimum loveable product, MLP is all about user experience. With MLP, the main accent is placed on product design and usability as its main goal is to captivate users from the start.

While MVP is all about testing a concept, MLP is designed to attract the audience and to encourage it to root for your product and advertise it. And here are the main things you need to remember about creating an MLP:

• Relatively fast to developt but takes more time than MVP or MMP development;
• Concentrates on the main features to evoke an emotional response;
• High usability and attractive design;
• Marketable;
• Creates an emotional connection with users.

By now, you might be thinking that an MLP is packed with features and that’s what makes it so attractive. But it’s not true at all. In reality, an MLP contains only high-priority features and they are selected depending on whether they can engage the user or not. Hence, you need to pay double attention to selecting product features from the start and ensure that you don’t overload your MLP with unnecessary ones.

Summary

There is no right and wrong when it comes to choosing between the MVP, MMP, and MLP concepts. As stated above, MVP is an absolute must and a starting point and other concepts can be developed on the basis of a successful MVP.

Judging from our experience, we can say that the development of MVP, MMP, and MLP greatly helps in testing your idea and fixing it on the go. You won’t need to spend a massive amount of budget only to learn that the final product completely mismatches users’ expectations. Instead, you can experiment and play around until the final product 100% corresponds to your users’ needs on the day of its official launch.

Want to learn more about MVP development or simply want to chat? Contact us and our team will gladly answer any of your questions or consult you on the intricacies of software product development.