How to Build and Deploy MVP in Agile Methodology? (2024)

Tired of long product development cycles that never seem to end? 

The key to solving this problem lies in understanding and implementing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) within an Agile framework. This approach not only speeds up your development process but also ensures you’re building something your customers actually want. 

In this post, we’ll dive into what MVP and Agile is, why MVP in Agile is crucial, and how you can use it to transform your development process. 

Let’s get started!

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Explained

An MVP is the most pared-down version of your product that still delivers value to customers.It includes only the core features necessary to solve a specific problem and meet user needs. The goal of an MVP is to quickly validate a product idea with minimal resources.

An MVP allows teams to test assumptions, gather user feedback, and make data-driven decisions for future development. By focusing on essential features, you can launch faster and reduce the risk of building something customers don’t want.

In essence, an MVP is about creating value early and iterating based on real user input.

Agile Methodology Overview

Agile methodology is a project management approach focused on flexibility, collaboration, and customer satisfaction. It breaks down projects into small, manageable units called sprints, typically lasting 1-4 weeks.

Scrum, a key framework within Agile, organizes how sprints are managed and executed. During the whole project, the product owner, scrum master, and scrum team collaborate to complete specific product enhancements. 

Guided by user stories and the backlog, each sprint focuses on creating new features. When one sprint ends, the next begins immediately, resulting in continuous delivery of valuable product increments. 

This structured, iterative process helps teams stay organized and responsive to changes, ensuring ongoing improvement and alignment with customer needs.

Agile principles prioritize:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
• Working software over comprehensive documentation.
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
• Responding to change over following a plan.

By breaking down projects into manageable chunks, Agile helps teams deliver small, incremental improvements quickly. This approach not only enhances productivity but also ensures that the final product closely aligns with customer needs and expectations.

In summary, Agile methodology is about being adaptable, prioritizing collaboration, and focusing on delivering value to customers through iterative development.

The Role of MVP in Agile Methodology

Accelerating Time to Market

Launching an MVP in Agile methodology lets teams deliver a product to market quickly by focusing on essential features. The workflow can be simplified down to just the basics:

1. The product owner identifies these core features, 
2. The scrum master ensures the team stays on track,
3. The scrum team executes the development. 

This speed enables immediate user feedback and a faster market entry.

Reducing Costs

Concentrating on core functionalities is the reason why developing an MVP reduces initial development costs. It avoids the expenditure on features that may not be necessary or wanted by the users, making it a cost-effective strategy in the early stages of product development.

Validating Product Ideas

An MVP serves as a real-world test for your product ideas. It helps in validating assumptions and understanding user needs without committing extensive resources. This feedback-driven approach ensures that the product evolves based on actual user experience and demands.

Minimizing Risks

The market is rapidly changing and uncertain to the point where it can be too much of a risk deploying a full product. 

Launching an MVP with Agile minimizes the risk of total project failure. By testing the market early and often, teams can pivot or make adjustments before investing too heavily in a particular direction.

Fostering Customer-Centric Development

An MVP ensures the product development stays customer-focused. The product owner collects and prioritizes user feedback, the scrum master ensures it is integrated into the development process, and the scrum team iterates on the product based on this feedback. 

Gathering user feedback early and iterating based on their responses keeps the development process aligned with customer needs and preferences, ensuring a better fit and higher satisfaction.

Steps to Creating a Successful MVP in Agile

Step 1. Identifying what to include in your MVP

Begin MVP in Agile by understanding the core problem your product aims to solve and the primary needs of your users. 

The product owner collaborates with stakeholders to gather requirements and prioritize features. Conduct market research, analyze user feedback, and study competitors to determine which features are essential for the MVP. 

Then, focus on functionalities that provide the most value with the least effort, ensuring the product can be tested and validated quickly. Use techniques like user personas and journey mapping to gain deeper insights into user needs.

Step 2. Planning Agile backlog and sprints

After identifying the core features of the MVP, the product owner prioritizes them in the product backlog. Each item in the backlog should be clearly defined with user stories that describe the feature from the user’s perspective. Here’s the basic steps to write a backlog:

1. Defining User Stories: Write user stories that describe the features or functionality from the user's perspective. Each story should follow the format: "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit]."
2. Prioritizing Backlog Items: Rank user stories based on their value to the user and the business (use methods like MoSCoW). The product owner is responsible for this prioritization.
3. Detailing Acceptance Criteria: Acceptance criteria should specify what is required for the story to be considered complete. For example: "The search feature should allow users to filter products by category, price, and rating."
4. Estimating Effort: Collaboratively estimate the effort required for each user story using techniques like Planning Poker or T-shirt sizing.

After that, it’s planning and controlling sprints. The scrum master organizes sprint planning meetings where the team selects high-priority backlog items to work on during the sprint. Set clear, achievable goals for each sprint, ensuring that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. 

Next, break down each user story into tasks, estimate the effort required, and allocate resources accordingly. Regularly revisit and adjust the backlog based on new insights and changing priorities.

Step 3. Iterative and incremental building

The scrum team develops the MVP in iterative cycles, focusing on small, manageable increments. Each sprint involves:

• Designing, 
• Coding, 
• Testing, 
• Reviewing specific features. 

This approach allows the team to make continuous improvements and adapt to feedback. The scrum master ensures that any impediments are addressed promptly, maintaining a smooth workflow. 

Step 4. Gathering insights for improvement

Once the MVP is ready, release it to a select group of users or early adopters to gather feedback. 

The product owner should organize user testing sessions, surveys, and interviews to collect detailed insights. Analyze the feedback to identify patterns, pain points, and areas for improvement. 

Create a feedback loop where insights are regularly shared with the scrum team and stakeholders. Prioritize the feedback and incorporate the most critical improvements into the next sprint.

Common Pitfalls in Building MVP with Agile Software Development

Over-Engineering

One of the biggest pitfalls in building an MVP in Agile is over-engineering. Teams may be tempted to include too many features, aiming for perfection rather than focusing on the core functionalities. 

This can lead to longer development times, increased costs, and delayed feedback. Remember, an MVP should be minimal, just enough to test the concept and gather user feedback.

✅ How to Avoid It:

• Focus strictly on the CORE features that solve the core problem.
• Regularly review and trim the backlog to ensure only necessary items are included.
• Emphasize the "minimal" aspect of MVP in all planning and development meetings.

Stakeholder Expectations

Managing stakeholder expectations is absolutely challenging. Stakeholders may have different visions of what the MVP should achieve, leading to scope creep and misaligned goals. Clear communication and setting realistic expectations from the outset are key.

✅ How to Avoid It:

• Clearly define and communicate the goals and scope of the MVP from the beginning.
• Regularly update stakeholders on progress and involve them in sprint reviews.
• Educate stakeholders on the purpose of an MVP and the benefits of iterative development.

Feedback and Iteration

A critical part of Agile and MVP is the feedback loop. However, teams can sometimes overlook or mismanage feedback, leading to missed opportunities for improvement. Gathering, analyzing, and implementing user feedback effectively is vital for the success of the MVP.

✅ How to Avoid It:

• Establish a clear process for collecting and analyzing user feedback.
• Prioritize feedback that aligns with the core goals of the MVP.
• Implement changes iteratively, using each cycle to refine and improve the product based on real user insights.

Conclusion

Building and deploying an MVP in Agile framework can significantly enhance your development process, enabling faster market entry and better alignment with customer needs. Teams can efficiently create valuable products by focusing on core features, managing the backlog, iteratively developing, and continually gathering feedback.

Got a product in mind that you wish to build and win in pitching? Partner with Golden Owl to create a POC that impresses investors and ensures success. Contact us now for professional guidance on your winning presentation.