About

Kevin Sahin

Designer at Hanno

Specialties: User Experiences, User Interface Design, Wireframing & Prototyping (FramerJS), Information Architecture, User flows & Stories, Design system, Front-end Development. Design team management.

Contact: http://www.budiman.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbudiman

Q.1 Why should startups begin with building a Minimum Viable Product?

I see the importance of a minimum viable product not only from the speed and cost-efficiency but also the focus. By building the minimum viable version, we can focus on solving the main problem, finding the right solution or opportunity, testing it to the target audience and getting some feedback as a fuel for the next improvement of your product.

Q.2 How do you prioritize features for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

To prioritize features for MVP, we need to see which features are the backbone. These features need to support our products so they can be used or tested by the market. In addition, we can also use impact-effort quadrants to help us determine which features we need to bring to the next iteration.

Q.3 What is the best advice you can give to budding Startup CEO on developing a successful MVP?

I think we know that to save extra cash is the gist of an MVP. Well, this needs to be seen in terms of what products you make, what the team looks like, what strengths the founders are and perhaps some other aspects. I see the most important thing is the strength of the founders. If you want to save the budget, founders need to step in and make their hands dirty. If there is a team or other person working on it, the founders also need to at least understand the process,

so that they don’t take steps that result in wasted time and costs. Last but not least, being strategic and planning carefully in every move.

Q.4 How can you save some extra cash when developing an MVP?

In my opinion, we can’t definitively define what the MVP should look like and how. Different products will have different approaches for an MVP, for instance, some people might think of landing pages as their MVP where they can collect emails and early feedback. Others might say you should focus on the functionalities more than the aesthetics. Well, that can’t be true if you think one of your product values is to be nice-looking and unique. So, we should see the MVP as a form of approach for us to move forward (even with baby steps) in product development or starting a new startup towards understanding who our users are, what their needs are and what opportunities exist–without taking a long time and spending big costs.

Q.5 Is building MVP still useful in 2019 and coming years?

Yes, with a better version, of course. As I said on question #3, we can’t definitively define what the MVP is. People might say that should be a minimum loveable, minimum awesome or something. People will continue to make the MVP way better than we think five years ago, but the essence will remain the same.