Lean Inception: Iteratively Developing an MVP

Do you want to create an MVP for your software development startup? Trying to find a flow for your agile projects but feeling your development efforts have dragged out? You may want to try strategies from the book Lean Inception: How to Align People and Build the Right Product by Paulo Caroli.

Paulo Caroli wrote this book as someone with extensive experience with various startups and agile project management. He created lean inception, a project management plan that you can accomplish within a week. Lean inception consists of everything a lean startup needs to build a product.

What Is an MVP?

Understanding the MVP and how it can help your startup is key to your software development's success.

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a product, but the most basic, bare-bones form of that software product. By making the minimum development effort to create a product, you don't need to waste resources on a product that doesn't profit.

With a minimum viable product or MVP, you can test consumers' reactions to the product. Results may indicate what changes are necessary to make it into a successful product or whether the product could ever be a success.

Lean inception relates to all this by acting as a project management MVP canvas. It helps build the MVP canvas to reflect the user story, further eliminating wasted time and resources to reach a successful product quickly and efficiently.

The Lean Inception

The book by Paulo Caroli shows how to use lean inception to lead your team to a successful MVP.

Lean inception consists of a series of tasks and activities that build the MVP canvas over the course of a week. It makes building a product simple as it breaks the whole process down into short-term tasks.

Along with an introduction and kick-off to bring the team together, there is also a final showcase that help you achieve effective product development.

Here is a general overview of what activities you'll complete:

• Write the Software Vision

• The Product Is; Is Not; Does; Does Not

• Understanding Goals

• Describe the Personas

• Discover the Features

• Technical, UX, and Business Review

• Show User Journeys

• Display Features in Journeys

• Sequence the Features

• Build the MVP Canvas

The Benefits of Lean Inception

If you are undertaking a large project but want a simplified approach, Caroli's method is a great place to start. When the entire team is working through the tasks for building a product, there is a shared understanding of where exactly you are in the process. Having a clear path can be the difference between success and failure.

Even for smaller projects, this simplified breakdown can help take the beginnings of a software project from inception to a developed MVP efficiently.

You can also adapt the program to match your lean startup needs, whether that's taking the process remotely or getting further training. You can find the right, successful product for the consumers you want to help.

Conclusion — Lean Inception and Software Development

When creating an MVP, quickly building a shared understanding can be difficult. Efficiently leading conversations and tasks between developers and stakeholders can be a challenge.

But Lean Inception's process can lead your team to success. From the introduction and kick-off with stakeholders to the final stages of MVP software development, lean inception consists of the road map for simple and effective project management.

If you want a new MVP and need guidance for your team, contact us today. We can get people on the right path toward robust software development. We'll help you put in the minimum effort for maximum success!