Minimum Viable Product for solutions that are as customer-focused as possible

Use cases and benefits

Many large-scale projects begin with comprehensive planning that often takes years. Eventually, a fully developed solution is brought to market. Today, we face the challenge of implementing innovations as quickly as possible whilst often having limited resources, even when we are not yet able to assess the target groups and their perspectives very well. The time, money and staff required for a complex and final implementation are not available to the extent required. To remain agile nonetheless and get innovations off the ground quickly, it makes sense to start with a product that already meets the minimum requirements and then to expand it further in an agile and needs-based manner. At the same time, this allows us to gain insights into how a product is actually received in the market and thus, where necessary, avoid unnecessary effort and costs in product development. Similarly, user feedback can be gathered at an early stage on the basis of a prototype or the beta version of a software programme or app, and this can then be incorporated into further development. The result is a product that is optimally tailored to users’ needs and can be sold successfully. Admittedly, it takes a bit of courage to offer a product that is still somewhat unpolished at first, but in the end it pays off.

Materna has provided agile support for various projects with industrial clients involving the development of an MVP. For example, in the case of an operator of offshore wind turbines, we succeeded in making the cost-intensive maintenance of offshore installations significantly more efficient. With the help of an MVP, data from remote offshore installations was successfully transmitted to land for the first time, enabling better planning of maintenance operations using a condition monitoring system.

An application that has since become an essential, business-critical tool for logistics planning at a car manufacturer is also based on an MVP. Sections of the supply chain that were originally linked manually in sequence have been heavily automated, so that instead of an error-prone and time-consuming handover, the data for the entire system is now created just once and then automatically transferred and processed.

For many companies, an MVP offers the opportunity to test ideas from their innovation centre. Even with a small budget, it is possible to implement a presentable solution. Agile software development using Scrum and DevOps is employed as the development methodology here.

The four phases of the MVP

Materna implements MVP projects in four phases: first, the requirements are defined; next, a proof of concept is carried out to assess technical feasibility; and, based on this, the minimum viable product is developed. Often, further ideas emerge in the process. During the development cycle, new requirements are gathered from sprint to sprint and implemented in order of priority. Following the go-live, the MVP can be enhanced with further functionalities as part of a continuous improvement process, provided that these promise added value and concrete competitive advantages.

Developing an MVP is recommended for dynamic sectors where early market entry can secure significant competitive advantages, and more generally to test market gaps or the market viability of innovative business models. It is only unsuitable for projects whose scope has already been specifically planned.

You can find more information about Materna’s MVP offering on our website.