UX Glossary · M
MVP
Also: Minimum viable product
The smallest version of a product that produces validated learning about whether the idea works.
A minimum viable product is the smallest thing you can build that tells you something reliable about whether the concept works. The term is credited to Frank Robinson and was popularised by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup (2011).
The emphasis in the original framing is on learning. An MVP is an experiment, and its success is measured by what it taught you rather than by what it contains.
What the term became
In practice “MVP” is now often used to mean “version one with the budget cut”, which is a different thing. The distinction is whether there is a question being answered. If nobody can state what the MVP is testing, it is a small product, not a minimum viable one.
The other frequent casualty is the “viable” part. Minimum is not the same as unusable, and shipping something broken tests whether people tolerate broken software, which you already know.
Kano gives the floor
The Kano model is a useful check: basic attributes cannot be cut. An MVP without reliable login is not minimal, it is disqualified before the question gets asked.
In practice
Write the question down before scoping. “Will professional gardeners manage fleets from a phone” scopes an MVP. “Build the smallest version” scopes an argument.