All
Startups

What's the best way to evaluate your MVP and plan your next steps?

You have built your minimum viable product (MVP), a version of your product with just enough features to test your assumptions and get feedback from early users. But how do you know if your MVP is working, and what should you do next? In this article, you will learn how to evaluate your MVP and plan your next steps based on data, user feedback, and your vision.

Find expert answers in this collaborative article

Selected by the community from 2 contributions. Learn more

1 Define your success metrics

Before you launch your MVP, you should have a clear idea of what you want to measure and why. These are your success metrics, the key indicators that show whether your MVP is solving a problem, creating value, and attracting users. Your success metrics should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, you might want to track the number of sign-ups, the retention rate, the revenue, or the customer satisfaction.

Add your perspective

Akshit Kandi

GTM @ Salesforce Data and AI
Report contribution
The best way to evaluate your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and plan next steps involves collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. Use key performance indicators like user engagement, customer acquisition cost, and retention rates to gauge the MVP's effectiveness. Complement this with customer feedback through surveys, interviews, or direct observation to understand user experience and needs. Analyze this data to identify strengths and weaknesses, and then iterate the product accordingly. The goal is to validate the core assumptions behind your business model and make data-driven decisions for future development and scaling.

Like

2 Collect and analyze data

Once you have your success metrics, you need to collect and analyze data from your MVP. You can use various tools and methods to gather data, such as analytics platforms, surveys, interviews, or experiments. The data will help you understand how your users interact with your MVP, what they like and dislike, what problems they face, and what features they request. You should also compare your data with your benchmarks and goals, and see if you are meeting or exceeding them.

Add your perspective

3 Validate or invalidate your assumptions

The main purpose of your MVP is to test your assumptions about your product, your market, and your users. Based on the data and feedback you collect, you should be able to validate or invalidate your assumptions. For example, you might have assumed that your target audience is young professionals, but the data shows that your users are mostly students. Or you might have assumed that your value proposition is unique, but the feedback reveals that your competitors offer similar solutions.

Add your perspective

Hussam Mohsineh ✨

✧ Serial Entrepreneur ✧
Report contribution
The MVP is a reality check for your product, market, and users. The goal is to see if your initial ideas are accurate. By gathering data and feedback, you can confirm or challenge your assumptions. If you thought your users would be young professionals, but most are actually students, that's a discovery. Similarly, if you believed your product was super unique, but feedback shows competitors offer similar, it's a reality check. Your MVP helps you fine-tune your course based on what's real.

Like

4 Decide what to do next

Based on the validation or invalidation of your assumptions, you should decide what to do next with your MVP. There are three possible scenarios: pivot, persevere, or kill. Pivot means that you change some aspects of your product, such as the features, the market, or the business model, based on the new insights you gained. Persevere means that you continue to develop and improve your product, as you have validated your assumptions and achieved your goals. Kill means that you stop working on your product, as you have invalidated your assumptions and failed to reach your goals.

Add your perspective

5 Plan your next iteration

If you decide to pivot or persevere, you should plan your next iteration of your product. This means that you should prioritize the most important features or changes that you want to implement, based on the data and feedback you collected. You should also set new goals and success metrics for your next iteration, and estimate the time and resources needed to complete it. You should follow the same process of building, measuring, and learning as you did with your MVP, and repeat it until you achieve product-market fit.

Add your perspective

6 Communicate your results and actions

Finally, you should communicate your results and actions to your stakeholders, such as your team, your investors, your partners, or your users. You should share the data and feedback you collected, the assumptions you validated or invalidated, the decisions you made, and the plans you have for your next iteration. You should also solicit feedback and suggestions from your stakeholders, and incorporate them into your product development. By communicating your results and actions, you will build trust, transparency, and engagement with your stakeholders.

Add your perspective

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

What's the best way to evaluate your MVP and plan your next steps?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your success metrics

2 Collect and analyze data

3 Validate or invalidate your assumptions

4 Decide what to do next

5 Plan your next iteration

6 Communicate your results and actions

7 Here’s what else to consider

Start-ups

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on Start-ups

More relevant reading