Scoping a Minimum Viable Product
The first version should do one job well. Everything else waits until real customers tell you it matters.
What an MVP is
A minimum viable product is a version with just enough features to be usable by early customers, who then provide feedback for future development. It is a learning tool, not a cut-down version of the dream.
Find the one job
Ask: if the app could only do one thing, which would bring customers back? That is the MVP. Everything else is a later release.
Write it as user stories
As a regular customer, I want to reorder my last order in two taps, so that I do not have to search the menu again.
Cut in this order
- Settings and personalisation.
- Social features and sharing.
- Admin screens that a spreadsheet can replace for now.
- Anything you added because a competitor has it.
Decide how you will measure it
Pick two or three numbers before launch, such as weekly active customers or repeat orders, and decide what result would make you continue, change or stop.
Revised 2026-10-20