MVPverse — The Product Canvas
As I went through the articles I have written thus far, one key piece has been overlooked, and I am totally guilty for it.
A quick-fire, proper MVP framework. Enter product canvas. The first step to building a Minimum Viable Product that works is identifying the exact problem your product will solve.
One of the most widely used tools is Product Canvas, it is used to streamline your thinking to create a strategic product vision.
The product canvas framework has 5 sections -
- Name — No surprise the name of the product.
- Goal — One of the most well-known rules/methods of writing a goal statement is the SMART method. SMART is a well-known acronym mostly understood as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.
As per Deb Johnstone When we effectively write an excellent SMART goal statement, it gives our mind direction, and we see more possibilities. We become more focused, and because of this, we often achieve what we want a lot faster. We also save time and work more productively.
3. Metrics — Measurability is one of the most important ingredients of success. If you have done enough deliberation to come up with a goal statement with the SMART method, you would have started thinking about measurability, or what would success looks like. You do not have to go deep into the massive north star framework or get stuck in the OKR ditch. Just One leading metric ( okay you can call it North Star), one lagging, and one counter metric.
4. Target Group — I have written extensively about early evangelists and how to get in touch with them in here — MVPverse — The curious case of early evangelists. It is really important to not just prioritise the value but to prioritise the user group, to keep the feedback loop small and increase the speed of iteration.
5. Big Picture — This is where your Product Hypothesis and other artefacts will go. If you have recruited early evangelists, it is important to have those customer feedback sessions, and have a list of their pain points. Based on the pain points you will have to prioritise the one that will have the highest amount of value delivered when your product is in the market. It is also important here that you start organising this solution in user stories and epics.
6. Product Details — All of your 5 steps of hard work boil down to this, where you create your product backlog, refine it, and run sprints for further feedback sessions. Each sprint should have a measurable or aspirational goal so that each increment delivers value to your users.
This is also the best moment to review your competitors. Are there any similar products on the market? How do they solve the problem? What is unique about your approach to solving this problem?
You can also choose benchmarks for your application. Are there any software products that have the UX/UI design, User Journey, or experience that you’d like your app to deliver as well?
TIP: Dedicating time to proper market research is a smart move. But don’t narrow down your research to the software products developed only in your sector.
