Key considerations when developing your MVP
The first thing that you should be doing is setting the right goal for your MVP so that you have a target to aim for. The main goal of your MVP should be to test out various hypotheses to make sure that your product will satisfy customer demand as powerfully as possible. Two key hypotheses to test out are firstly how popular and successful the product is in satisfying customer needs, and secondly how much customers are willing to pay for the product. If your product is met with poor reviews and low sales numbers, then you know that you need to shake things up and make some changes.
Weighing up functionality and simplicity is essential in developing the perfect MVP. By its very nature, an MVP is the simplest version of your product that you can make with it still being functional, but you still want to pack in enough functionality to help show the true nature of the product, and collect valuable feedback about the product. To achieve this, you should sort the functions by priority, and then choose the essential functions that you feel you need to include in the MVP. If you try to add too many functions, customers may find the MVP too complicated and get overwhelmed, however if it is too simple they won't see the value in the product. It is very important to find the right balance between functionality and simplicity.
Another major challenge is determining how to make your product unique but not alien.
It's difficult to create a product that completely stands out from the crowd, because first and foremost you need a product that consumers are prepared to put their trust in and part with their money for. However, you don't want to produce the same old thing that has been on the market for ages. With your MVP it is vital that you strike the perfect balance between uniqueness and familiarity.