The goal of a single feature MVP is to create a product that stands out from the competition; it can be effective to focus on solving one specific problem for a certain group of people.
By concentrating on this one feature, you can provide a superior solution for a niche group.
The initial group of customers who use the product can provide valuable feedback on how to develop it into a platform further.
What Is a Single Feature MVP?
A single-feature MVP is a light product dedicated to solving one specific problem for a very specific industry or niche.
It tests the crowd to validate your assumption about the target market with a viable product with limited functionality. In this case, only one core feature of the product will be served in front of the customer.
A single-feature MVP tests three different aspects of the target market
- Desirability – Do they want it?
- Viability – Should we do it?
- Feasibility – Can we do it?
What Are the Benefits of Single Feature MVPs
A single-feature MVP can provide you with three notable core benefits.
1. You Get To Validate Within Low Costs
Due to your product only having one function at its core, development is relatively more straightforward. It costs much less than regular app development, which targets to have a few functionalities within them.
An MVP can validate your idea as soon as it is published, and a single feature MVP takes a meager cost to create.
You get to determine product-market fit while spending as little as possible during app development.
2. You Can Market Your Product Faster
A single-feature MVP has a shorter development time allotted to it. The reason behind it is apparent: one core feature takes much less time to develop than multiple complex functionalities.
When your development time can be cut short, you reach your target audience with a faster time to market.
3. A Robust & Stable Basis
Many MVP types rely on smoke and mirror tricks. Flintstone MVP and piecemeal MVP are a couple of examples of this case.
But with a single feature MVP, you have a solid foundation with a tangible, actual product that does exactly what it says on the label. People can interact with it to provide feedback for further improvements.
How to Plan a Single-Feature MVP
Now that you’re convinced about the surefire benefits of a well-designed single-feature MVP let’s look at how you should plan to create your MVP with great potential.
1. Plan Your UVP & USP
A product can contain multiple Unique Value Points (UVP) and Unique Selling Propositions (USP). Since your product will have only one feature, it’s better to focus on having a single UVP and a single USP.
To plan your UVP and USP, start by analyzing the target market. There are bound to be products that solve your exact problems.
Find out what you’re doing and how you can uniquely serve the purpose no one has tried before. Once you’ve determined that part, it’s time to sell it to the potential customer base using that unique point.
2. Stick to One Feature
When the actual product development is in progress, it’s essential to have the mindset to develop a single feature.
Since your marketing efforts and the entire product are based on one feature that will solve a single core problem of the target audience, your development cycle has to follow the same pattern.
Focus all your development efforts on that single feature, and tune it to perfection till it’s ready to launch.
3. Build A Roadmap for Future Features
An MVP may start with only one feature, but that doesn’t mean more cannot be added later. Even when creating a single-feature MVP, you need to consider the possibilities of future addition of features.
Before the development cycle begins, choose a tech stack and framework method that allows scalability and room for more development, as well as implementing upgrades. Then create a detailed roadmap of features you will add to your product.
Feeling overwhelmed by the entire process? Fear not; Impala InTech has your back! Contact us to discuss your idea, and we will be happy to provide the necessary consultations!
What Are the Four Types of MVPs?
All the different types of MVPs can be divided into two major categories:
- Low-Fidelity MVPs
- High-Fidelity MVPs
Low-fidelity MVPs are relatively smaller in scale and are mainly used to convey the concept of your product idea in front of your target audience.
High-fidelity MVPs are applications that perform minimal features that solve various issues based on user experiences.
Let’s look at a couple of examples of low-fidelity and high-fidelity MVPs.
1. Concierge MVP
Concierge MVP is when a product seems like an automated product from the outside, but behind the curtains, humans perform the application’s operations and objectives.
In the case of a concierge MVP, the users know the manual service behind the application. The fact is apparent when the startup company/ founder demonstrates the application.
2. Wizard of OZ MVP
Similar to concierge MVP, Wizard of Oz MVPs also have real humans working to serve the purposes of the MVP, only this time, the users have yet to be made aware of it. The entire team creates an illusion that the software products are fully automated, similar to the real Wizard of Oz.
3. Piecemeal MVP
Piecemeal MVP is the idea of gathering all the pre-existing ideas together to solve the issue that your product is looking to solve. In this case, you take in all the facilities other products offer and tweak them uniquely to represent your brand.
4. Landing Page MVP
While the previous three examples are from high-fidelity MVP types, this one can be considered a low-fidelity MVP. As the name suggests, it’s a simple landing page that describes the startup app idea and lists all the initial stage features. The page may also contain a demo video of the product working and future development roadmaps.
When & Why Should You Consider Building a Single Feature MVP?
Any MVP is the fruition of the startup idea that you have. But you might think: “When do I start building my single-feature MVP?”
- When you’re ready to break your piggy bank and invest in creating your first startup MVP.
- When you are prepared to test the market with your business idea.
- When you’re ready to validate the business hypotheses, you created regarding your target market.
- When you require something solid to present in front of the potential consumer base.
Examples of Single Feature MVPs
Now that we know how beneficial single-feature MVPs can be let’s look at the three best ones that have been going strong since their launch and are now a part of our everyday life.
1. Instagram
Instagram started as an image-sharing software allowing users to upload photos and apply filters before sharing them with friends and family. It would also enable location sharing by adding geotags to the pictures everyone took.
After a massively successful launch, Instagram started improving its app regularly with user feedback. Over time, they managed to include multiple features, and it’s become the most popular social media platform.
2. Spotify
Spotify launched with a single goal: to stop the overwhelming music piracy worldwide. When they started their journey back in 2007, people could only stream a single song at a time.
After receiving tons of positive feedback and support, Spotify grew with more features, careful collaborations, and cross-platform launches. Spotify is now the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service.
3. Uber
Uber started with a single question: “What if you could request a ride from your phone?” To answer that question, the founders of Uber connected a bunch of cars acting as taxis to the app users.
The app would ask for their phone number, email address, and financial information to contact and pay the driver once they received their service. Nowadays, Uber has branched into multiple transportation sectors, including food delivery, package delivery, and even more.
To Wrap It All Up
A single-feature MVP is the fastest way to capture the actual market you are looking to get into. With a thoughtful and efficient development cycle and killer marketing campaigns, you can validate your idea by launching a successful product in no time.
FAQs
MVP features are the core functionalities of an application that a startup founder is planning to launch. The MVP features are designed to solve different problems facing the target user base.
Since an MVP should launch with minimal capacity and basic functionality, an MVP is only required to have up to two to three features.
You should always analyze your target market thoroughly to choose the right initial features for your MVP. Then find a problem that the real users are facing, and design a list of features to solve that problem uniquely.
1. It has enough value that people will use or buy it initially.
2. It demonstrates enough key features in the future product to retain early adopters.
3. It provides a customer feedback loop to guide future development.
When you need to establish the presence of your idea with a real product within your targeted industry, a functional product is the best way to do so.
