What is a Minimum Marketable Product in Agile Product Development?

What is a Minimum Marketable Product in Agile Product Development? MVP and MMP

When developing and launching a new product, you need to anticipate future trends and what customers will want in the coming months. However, very few of us can predict the future or conduct lengthy market and customer analyses. This is where Agile Product Development comes into play, applying concepts like the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and the Minimum Marketable Product (MMP). Read on to learn about MVPs and MMPs and how they can make your product development more successful.

What is a Minimum Viable Product?

Before introducing the Minimum Marketable Product, let’s briefly explain the Minimum Viable Product. If you’d like more detail, I’ve written an article that explains the MVP in depth.

The term Minimum Viable Product MVP was defined in 2001 by Frank Robinson and later popularized by Eric Ries through his book The Lean Startup.

Here’s Eric Ries original definition by :

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”

In other words, an MVP is the first version of a product that contains enough features and quality to attract an initial group of customers, while providing valuable feedback on how customers use and value the product.

Ries’ definition highlights that the MVP isn’t about launching a product with the bare minimum of functionality, but rather about using it as a tool for validated learning. It’s a method to test hypotheses and discover what truly meets customers’ needs.

The following figure shows the cycle of validated learning from The Lean Startup.

Innovation: Build-Measure-Learn-Feedback-Loop-Lean-Startup - the cycle of validated learning by Eric Ries
The Feedback Loop from The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

What is a Minimal Marketable Product (MMP)?

A Minimum Marketable Product (MMP) is the next logical step after an MVP in the product development process. While an MVP focuses on validating assumptions and understanding user preferences, an MMP includes the core set of functionalities that address customer needs, create a desirable user experience, and begin to deliver measurable value for the business. An MMP can be launched with must-have functionality and later expanded with “nice-to-have” features.

The MMP primarily serves to reduce time-to-market, as it can be launched more quickly than a fully-featured product.

Creating a Product With Just the Right Number of Features

Creating a product with just the right number of features sounds like common sense—why build more than necessary? Yet many projects have resulted in over-engineered products with features that added little value, cluttering the product and increasing maintenance costs. It’s tempting to add just one more “cool” feature. Using the concept of an MMP helps you focus on what really matters and avoids unnecessary features.

A frequently mentioned example of an MMP is the first iPhone, released in 2007. Apple stripped the product down to meet a select set of customer needs. Interestingly, the iPhone had fewer features compared to its competitors at the time. Apple avoided trying to please everyone and instead used the MMP as a base product that could be expanded over time.

Steps Towards a Minimal Marketable Product

Steve Blank emphasizes that the key to a successful MMP is to “develop the product for the few, not the many.” Focus on the features that make a real difference to users. The MVP is a great tool for discovering those features.

To create a successful MMP, you need to thoroughly understand your product’s value proposition and select only the essential features that meet your target group’s needs. Have the courage to discard non-essential features for now. This approach doesn’t mean creating a simplistic product—it means focusing on what’s vital for the product’s success. For each epic or user story, ask: “Can we ship the product without it?” If the answer is yes, exclude that feature.

As the French writer and poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said:

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Adopting this approach benefits both the business and the development teams. For the business, it reduces the risk of failure by focusing on validated knowledge. For development teams, it means not wasting time on irrelevant or even harmful features.

Going from MVP to the MMP

A logical approach is to combine both concepts: develop one or more MVPs to test ideas and gain user and market insights, and then use these insights to create and launch the MMP—a product with the right features and an excellent user experience.

From Minimum Viable Product MVP to the Minimum Marketable Product MMP in agile Product Development and Scrum
From Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to the Minimum Marketable Product (MMP) in Agile Product Development

Keep in mind that a Minimum Marketable Product (MMP) differs from a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): The MMP is complete enough to be ready for a general release, as symbolized by the “gift wrapping” in the picture above. However, with an MMP, there are still additional activities that need to be completed. These may include launch preparations, such as creating marketing campaigns, or, in some cases, obtaining certifications. Let’s revisit your MVPs. Some may be disposable prototypes that were only used to gather the necessary knowledge, while others may evolve into reusable product increments that eventually become the marketable product.

Product development in an agile environment is an exciting endeavor, and methods like MVPs, MMPs, and the Lean Startup Cycle are extremely valuable tools in this process.

Here You Can Find Even More Knowledge

Would you like to learn more about how to make your projects more successful with Scrum and Agile Project Management? My book Scrum – How to Successfully Apply Agile Project Management and Scrum takes you an important step further!

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More books that might interest you:

Eric Ries: The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Eric Ries: The Startup Way: How Entrepreneurial Management Transforms Culture and Drives Growth

Posted in Agile Project Management.