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MVP Development with GitScrum
MVPs need ruthless focus to succeed. GitScrum helps teams define, scope, and track MVP development with features designed to maintain focus on core functionality and enable rapid iteration.
MVP Philosophy
What MVP Means
MVP DEFINITION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ MVP = Minimum Viable Product │
│ │
│ MINIMUM: │
│ • Smallest scope that tests your hypothesis │
│ • NOT a prototype (must be usable) │
│ • NOT feature-complete (only essentials) │
│ │
│ VIABLE: │
│ • Actually works for real users │
│ • Delivers real value │
│ • Good enough to get honest feedback │
│ │
│ PRODUCT: │
│ • Something people can use │
│ • Not a demo or mockup │
│ • Has enough polish to be taken seriously │
│ │
│ PURPOSE: │
│ Not to impress. To LEARN. │
│ • What do customers actually want? │
│ • Will they pay/use this? │
│ • What's missing that matters? │
│ │
│ ANTI-PATTERN: │
│ "MVP" that takes 6 months and has 50 features │
│ = Not an MVP │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
MVP vs Full Product
MVP SCOPE ILLUSTRATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ FULL PRODUCT VISION: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ User accounts, social login, profile customization ││
│ │ Advanced search with filters and saved searches ││
│ │ Real-time notifications across all channels ││
│ │ Mobile apps for iOS and Android ││
│ │ Admin dashboard with full analytics ││
│ │ Multi-language support ││
│ │ Integration with 20+ third-party tools ││
│ │ Custom branding and white-labeling ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ MVP SCOPE: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ Email login ││
│ │ Core feature that solves the main problem ││
│ │ Basic notifications ││
│ │ Web app only ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ MVP answers: "Do people want this enough to use it?" │
│ Full product answers: "How do we scale and delight?" │
│ │
│ Build MVP first. Expand based on real feedback. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Scoping MVP
Prioritization Framework
MVP PRIORITY CLASSIFICATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ MUST HAVE (P0): │
│ "MVP cannot launch without these" │
│ • Core value proposition │
│ • Basic security/stability │
│ • Legal requirements │
│ │
│ SHOULD HAVE (P1): │
│ "Important but can launch without" │
│ • Quality of life improvements │
│ • Secondary use cases │
│ • Error handling edge cases │
│ │
│ COULD HAVE (P2): │
│ "Nice to have if time allows" │
│ • Polish features │
│ • Convenience features │
│ • Optimization │
│ │
│ WON'T HAVE (P3): │
│ "Explicitly out of scope for MVP" │
│ • Advanced features │
│ • Scale concerns │
│ • Feature parity with competitors │
│ │
│ RULE: P0 only for MVP. Everything else waits. │
│ │
│ IF TEMPTED TO ADD P1: │
│ Ask: "Would we not launch without this?" │
│ If answer is "we could launch", it's not P0. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
MVP Definition Template
MVP DEFINITION DOCUMENT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ PRODUCT: TaskFlow (Project Management Tool) │
│ MVP TARGET: 6 weeks | Feb 28, 2024 │
│ │
│ ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ HYPOTHESIS: │
│ "Small teams will pay for a simple tool that lets them │
│ organize tasks without Jira's complexity" │
│ │
│ SUCCESS METRICS: │
│ • 50 users sign up in first month │
│ • 20% return after first week │
│ • 5 users willing to pay │
│ │
│ ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ P0 - MUST HAVE: │
│ ☐ Email signup/login │
│ ☐ Create/edit/delete tasks │
│ ☐ Kanban board view │
│ ☐ Assign tasks to team members │
│ ☐ Basic task details (title, description, status) │
│ │
│ P1 - SHOULD HAVE (Post-MVP): │
│ ☐ Due dates and reminders │
│ ☐ Comments on tasks │
│ ☐ File attachments │
│ │
│ P3 - WON'T HAVE (Future): │
│ ☐ Time tracking │
│ ☐ Advanced reporting │
│ ☐ Integrations │
│ ☐ Mobile apps │
│ │
│ SIGN-OFF: Product ✓ | Engineering ✓ | Founder ✓ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Execution
Sprint Planning
MVP SPRINT PLAN:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ MVP: TaskFlow | 6-Week Timeline │
│ │
│ WEEK 1-2: FOUNDATION │
│ • Auth system (signup, login, logout) │
│ • Basic data model (users, teams, tasks) │
│ • Infrastructure setup │
│ Milestone: User can create account │
│ │
│ WEEK 3-4: CORE FEATURE │
│ • Task CRUD operations │
│ • Kanban board UI │
│ • Drag-and-drop status changes │
│ Milestone: User can manage tasks on board │
│ │
│ WEEK 5: TEAM FEATURES │
│ • Team creation │
│ • Member invitation │
│ • Task assignment │
│ Milestone: Team collaboration works │
│ │
│ WEEK 6: POLISH & LAUNCH │
│ • Bug fixes only │
│ • Basic onboarding │
│ • Production deployment │
│ Milestone: MVP live for beta users │
│ │
│ RULE: No new features in Week 6 │
│ If it's not done by Week 5, it's not in MVP │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Scope Protection
PROTECTING MVP SCOPE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WEEK 3: "Can we add due dates?" │
│ │
│ RESPONSE: │
│ "Great feature idea! Adding to P1 backlog. │
│ Not in MVP - we'll add after initial launch │
│ if users request it." │
│ │
│ WEEK 4: "Competitor has notifications" │
│ │
│ RESPONSE: │
│ "Noted for roadmap. MVP hypothesis doesn't require │
│ notifications to test. Adding would delay launch." │
│ │
│ WEEK 5: "Stakeholder wants mobile" │
│ │
│ RESPONSE: │
│ "Mobile is P3 (post-MVP). Web-only is sufficient │
│ to validate core hypothesis. Mobile can come later │
│ if web version gains traction." │
│ │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ SCOPE DEFENSE CHECKLIST: │
│ ☐ Is this required to test our hypothesis? │
│ ☐ Would we not launch without it? │
│ ☐ Does it directly serve core user need? │
│ │
│ If any "no" → Not in MVP │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Post-MVP
Learning Loop
MVP LEARNING CYCLE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ┌─────────┐ │
│ │ BUILD │ ← Start here │
│ │ MVP │ │
│ └────┬────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────┐ │
│ │ MEASURE │ │
│ │ Results │ │
│ └────┬────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────┐ │
│ │ LEARN │ │
│ │ Insights│ │
│ └────┬────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────┐ │
│ │ DECIDE │ │
│ │ Next │ │
│ └─────────┘ │
│ │
│ DECISION OPTIONS: │
│ • Persevere: Double down on what's working │
│ • Pivot: Change direction based on learning │
│ • Stop: Hypothesis disproven, move on │
│ │
│ EACH CYCLE: 2-4 weeks │
│ Goal: Learn fast, waste little │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘