As the world of start-ups evolves and the development industry evolve, the term ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) has taken on several different meanings. Frank Robinson, who coined the term, and Eric Ries, who popularized it, originally intended it to mean “that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” The key phrase is ‘validated learning.’
Over time, different people have applied the term in various ways, with the emphasis shifting from learning to other goals, such as marketability or profitability. Some define it simply as the first version of a product, others as a stripped-down version of a product. Some developers disregard the idea of an MVP altogether, opting instead to build ‘a full-scale but simple product.’ However, we should not dismiss the idea that marketability and profitability are the explicit goals of ‘validated learning’ in an MVP. Every developer wants to spend the minimum amount of money and time, to produce a product their customers want to use.