Minimal Viable Product (MVP) is a cornerstone of agile project management which I am a big fan of. Agile project management came from Agile software development. No wonder, almost all innovative project management techniques in the last 20 years came from the software development discipline, as competition and time to market are fierce in software development.
The minimal viable product concept stands for a bare minimum product that can be quickly released to the market to gain valuable market insights and first-mover advantage while not wasting precious time developing features that won’t be used.
Thus MVP articulation is essential. What is a minimum viable product for the particular project that one works on? What represents the vital features? The illustration below explains that MVP makes one focus on the crystallisation of every aspect of the essential features: from UX functionality to empathic user-centric design, that in turn makes one ask important questions for product release- why do we do it, who is an audience for our product, what does end-user want and how would they prefer to use it.
It focuses on the essential aspect and delivers it because MVP is not complete without a release to the market. Hence MVP is not to be confused with a foundation of the future product, as illustrated on the pyramid to the left.
Image Courtesy: snov.io
This concept of MVP can also be used to deliver complex projects such as Information Governance, as one would find that skills needed for MVP development are alike.
Information Governance in M 365 can be highly complex, and therefore delivering IG projects can be highly complex.
Not just the detailed nature of IG delivery that might represent the challenge, but also a vast group of stakeholders that the organisation needs to take along the IG journey for successful project delivery, and that’s where the MVP comes in handy. Defining a bare minimum delivery that is a must-have for the project keeps the scope creep at bay and aids in streamlining difficult discussions.
So How does one define MVP?
The illustration below makes a great example of the journey to MVP.
The starting question is, what are we trying to achieve? In the example below the end goal is a product that allows transportation from point a to point b, so one doesn’t jump into solutioning straight away, but starts with iteration and testing of UX functionality while testing market demand for a particular transport means and testing the business case and ultimately getting clarity about the final deliverable.
Image Courtesy: x-staticmediagroup.com
Therefore Infotechion offers a series of strategy workshops to help organisations develop MVP and crystalise their Information Governance strategy while focusing on a concrete deliverable that can be achieved quickly ( blueprint design).
This approach is a proven method to shortcut and navigate the complex area of Information Governance, and Infotechtion is your partner of choice to do so.
