Going by the definition, MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a product with just enough features and a basic interface to satisfy early customers and to provide feedback for future development.
If we talk in more realistic terms, MVP is more of a concept or approach that drives a development technique that focuses on building a product with least of features and basic design – apt enough to be used by the end user.
In terms of app, an MVP means something with elementary functions and least possible screens and basic communication to allow the user to connect with the preliminary services of the app.
However, it should not be confused with the Demo or Beta version of the product. As Demo is a demonstration version, which is mostly complete in its offering but is limited in terms of time and/or material. And a Beta is an incomplete version of a product, with errors that are corrected by the user in the process of using the product.
The purpose behind launching an MVP of an app can be many, ranging from budget to pilot studies and experimentation. But the main idea behind is to first roll out something which represents the product concept as a whole and offers the users with everything the app is about – in the least attainable value proposition and as the tiniest possible consumable entity.
Having learned that, we can drill down to the facts of Minimum Viable Product development and understand how much of efforts and cost it takes to build an MVP talking of real scenarios.
While you are creating an MVP, you should be first determining what your product is about and who is your audience as you do with a regular product. This needs to be further matched with the minimum requirement to make your product usable. This takes you to the fact that while building the MVP app you need to think of the smallest part of the application. This allows you to build the most compactly sufficient form of your application in the most benefiting manner.
Developing an MVP can take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year. If you are looking to build it on one platform (say iOS) it will take around 160 to 240 hours with UX/UI designer putting in 40-80 hours and Project manager and QA engineer around 10% to 20% respectively. And the total cost will be around $ 10k to $15k talking generally irrespective of any particular domain.
Here, there can also be apps that cost less than $10k but they are the ones that mostly have a single screen and just one function.
The MVPs that cost more than $15k generally have complex features (also quite higher in number compared to a bare-bone app) and have more number of screens with richer UI. These also include those that are server dependent and need third-party service integration.
Further, MVPs that are based on some innovative idea or related to some novel devices can go a notch higher. As these apps would take in detailed analysis and would include high-tech component along with multifaceted data interaction and processing routine.
Being a startup or a firm with limited budget and resources, you don’t get enough leverages and luxuries to work on a complete product as you are still having limited choices to select from. Or maybe if you are building an extensive app and want to take user feedback on your work, MVP app development makes more sense to you.
To know more about MVP development, you can trust us as your benefactor and reach us at [email protected].
Manish Jain is the co-founder and Managing Director at Konstant Infosolutions. He is responsible for the overall operations of the company and has played a major role in bringing Konstant up from its humble beginnings and, with his immense energy and drive, transforming it into a globally trusted name in IT solutions.
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