A minimum viable product is a version of a new product built with just enough features to be usable by early customers, who then provide feedback that guides further development. The term was coined by Frank Robinson in 2001 and later popularized by Steve Blank and Eric Ries. It functions as a form of experimentation that tests a business core assumptions about what customers actually want, helping teams avoid spending time on unnecessary work before those assumptions are validated. The approach is a central technique of the lean startup methodology, which favors validated learning over extensive upfront planning. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Core PrincipleA product is built with just enough features to be usable by early customers, who then provide feedback that guides future product development. 1 FAQs
Does a minimum viable product mean building the smallest product possible?
No. It is the version that gives the most validated learning about customers for the least effort, and finding it takes judgment.
No. Eric Ries, who popularized the idea, wrote that despite the name it is not about creating minimal products. He defined it as the version of a new product that lets a team collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. That makes the right size a judgment call for each context. Ries noted that it often takes real effort in talking to customers and studying metrics, because the point is to learn something from the first iteration, not merely to ship something small.
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In Field
Source Minimum viable product (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Long-Form Articles
Sources
1. Minimum viable product (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundationlead paragraph, opening sentence
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development.
History section, sentence naming Frank Robinson
The term was coined and defined in 2001 by Frank Robinson and then popularized by Steve Blank and Eric Ries.
In Group: Software Development Processes, Introduction
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development.
In Field: Software Engineering, Lead section
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development.
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