Minimum Viable Products (MVP) rarely make "good" products. We discuss an alternative: the Minimum Loveable Product. In the world of platform engineering, coordinating your software (and perhaps hardware teams) to deliver a valuable product that your target audience will use is critical to success. http://by.dialexa.com/beyond-the-minimum-viable-product-why-you-should-build-a-minimum-loveable-product

1. The Minimum Loveable
Product: Go Beyond
the Minimum Viable
Product
By Brad Bush
http://by.dialexa.com/beyond-the-minimum-viable-product-
why-you-should-build-a-minimum-loveable-product

2. Dialexa
We are on a mission to make every company
a great technology company.
We work with organizations to define and
execute digital transformation strategies to
improve business operations and customer
experiences. Our services include:
• Multi-Year Technology Roadmap
• Platform Engineering
• User Experience Design
• Custom Software Development
• Hardware Prototyping /IoT

3. Loveable is an interesting word.

4. But can technology be cuddly, delightful,
adorable– lovable? Absolutely.

5. Minimum viable products
(MVPs), while good
intentioned and functional,
will rarely make “good”
products.

6. Contrasting MVP with
MLP (minimum loveable
products)…

7. …It’s about taking products from viable to loveable.

8. It’s hard to be
revolutionary with an
MVP; you end up only
being evolutionary… and
mediocre.

9. This doesn’t mean we completely walk
away from the MVP principles.

10. In many cases, you really
only need a few more
features to go from MVP to
MLP.

11. Yes, you may have to spend
extra money for features to be
loveable…

12. …but you only get one chance to win
your customers’ hearts and minds
from the beginning.

13. Laurence McCahill
and Brian de Haaff,
leaders in the MLP
movement, have
outlined how to get
from viable to
loveable.

14. Here are a few of the boxes to check in
the ideation and development process.

15. Before you invest one minute in development, ask
yourself Brian de Haaff’s 7 questions and check the
boxes for this lovability litmus test:

16. 1. Are you relatively sure it’s never been done before?

17. 2. Do customers visibly
smile when you describe
it to them?

18. 3. Does anyone
swear (in delight
or disgust) when
he/she hears the
idea?

19. 4. Do you dream of using it and all of the
features you could add?

20. 5. Are your CTO or top architects
the only people who think it‘s
possible to create this product?

21. 6. Do people start
contacting you to
learn about what you
are building?

22. 7. Are the top industry
analysts not yet
writing about it?

23. If your product
passes this test,
make sure to think
about these things
as you are planning
to develop.

24. Start with “Why?”
Why are you
building this
product/solution?

25. Have a clear purpose
to awaken an emotion
within your early
customers so your
product creates a
connection with
them.

26. Do one thing really
well. Get to the core
of the product by
having a clear
focus…

27. …this means learning to say “no.”

28. Relentlessly prioritize- Figure out what to leave out
so you can focus on the most important stuff within
the timeframe you have.

29. Prioritize what’s painful-

30. -You can’t solve every
problem so focus
building features that
relive your customers’
biggest pain points
and allows them to get
their jobs done easier.

31. Design for
emotion- go
above and
beyond what’s
expected to elicit
a positive
response from
users.

32. Invest in design- customers
are more loyal to well designed
products with a great user
experience. Period.

33. Focus on creating a habit- have a great
trigger and call-to-action, great usability
design, and a reward for loyalty.

34. Build a community of advocates- get customers
to rally around your mission and ultimately, your
product.

35. Don’t sell (at least in
the beginning)- focus
on getting to know
your customers and
then focus on being
different, talk worthy
and remarkable.

36. Lastly- ensure your team understands the
long-term strategy.

37. Your first release is
just the start of
your product’s
journey toward
product-market fit,
not the end of the
road.

38. A good idea can go a long way, but turning a
good idea into a great product takes creative
effort…

39. …business savvy and a disciplined approach
to dream up, design and develop cuddly,
squeezable, loveable products that customers
don’t want to live without.

40. P R O P E R T Y O F D I A L E X A L L C © 2 0 1 7 - C O N F I D E N T I A L & P R O P R I E T A R Y
Doug Platts
VP of Marketing
marketing@dialexa.com
If you are looking to undertake a digital
transformation initiative we would love
to see how we can help make your
company a great technology company.