Jargon buster - winter 2015

Do you know your MVP from your M♥P? Brian Wernham explains why interim solutions matter

A minimum viable product (MVP) is the first live output from a project that needs to deliver in phases, and deliver quick wins fast. This is a concept that works well within both traditional programme management (with tranches of phased delivery) and in agile projects, which by their nature deliver incrementally.

Here’s an example.
A recent government project had what seemed like insurmountable problems with IT security around money payments in a new benefit claims system. The programme manager and his boss (the senior responsible officer) decided to deliver an MVP in just a few months for live use. It had the barest security features and no money payments, but it would still capture claimant data, improve service and save costs.

How did they do this?
By implementing a simple appointment-request system that would capture the minimum data to get started. Once received over the internet, the form was printed out and then retyped into an internal booking system. It didn’t inspire much confidence in the technology, but it did work, and saved some time over the previous paper and ink application process.

So what is M♥P?
This is the minimum lovable product (MLP). It is an MVP that doesn’t suck. In other words, it has all the basic features, but it also inspires confidence in the team, technology and end vision of the programme. It is not a “cheap and nasty” stopgap, then, but a “cheap and cheerful” interim solution.

An example of this is Mark Zuckerberg’s “Facemash”, which had just one function: “Hot or not?” Within 12 hours, he had gathered 450 users. Despite its dubious ethics, many people adored his MLP. Zuckerberg then launched his next version of the product, which he dubbed “Facebook”, and the rest is history.

Brian Wernham is a main board member of APM. His book, Agile Project Management for Government, is published by Maitland & Strong