How much is enough?
Building the right MVP for launch
Minimum Viable Product. Your idea, with just enough features. Build it, push it, and watch. Validate your idea or kill it. But how do you know what is enough as a product manager?
Let’s dive into three basics with examples.
1. A clear assumption
Your MVP needs to have at least one clear assumption about what users will do or care about. Everything else is noise at this stage.
Example:
In 2007 the founders of Airbnb were struggling to pay rent in their San Francisco apartment. They also knew that during major conferences in the city, hotel rooms were often either sold out or too expensive. Their assumption was simple and bold: people would be willing to pay to stay in someone else’s home if the price and situation made sense.
To test this, they set up air mattresses in their living room, offered breakfast, provided free wifi and built a very basic website called “AirBed & Breakfast”. Their guests booked directly through the site and stayed with them. No app, no payment system, no scalable tech. Just a clear assumption tested quickly and manually.
2. Test the assumption, not your final solution
This is where things usually go off track. Your MVP should help you test the assumption from step one, but you don’t need to build the final version of your solution to do that.
You don’t have to commit to the full technology, automation, or ideal operations unless they are part of the assumption itself. Keep it scrappy. It is about validation, not perfection.
Example:
In the early days Airbnb struggled to get enough bookings. They realized many listings had dark and unappealing photos. So the founders went to New York, visited hosts, and took professional photos themselves. Bookings doubled almost immediately.
This was not an automated platform feature. It was a simple and scrappy test of another assumption: better visuals lead to more bookings.
3. Don’t over invest in design too early
We are talking digital products here. At the MVP stage, you only invest in UX where it directly impacts your assumption. Users need to understand what you are offering and how to use it.
But don’t obsess over polished UI. Your early adopters will forgive clunky visuals if the core functionality delivers. The reverse is not true: a beautiful interface will not make up for a missing core value.
Example:
Airbnb’s early website was functional and simple. There were no advanced features, branding, or glossy visuals. What mattered was that someone could see a place, feel safe enough, and book it. The design matured later, after the assumption was proven and the product had traction.
The bottom line
An MVP is not about launching your final product. It is about learning fast and cheap.
A clear assumption
A quick way to test it
Enough UX for clarity, not beauty
If your assumption is validated, you have earned the right to build more. If it’s not, you have saved time, money, and heartbreak.