MLP and MVP: What Brings Customers?

What is MVP and MLP?

MVP - Minimum Viable Product - is a product with a minimal set of basic functions used to gather feedback for subsequent iterations.

MLP - Minimum Loveable Product - is a product that not only has basic functionality but also the potential to make users fall in love with it.

What is the difference between MLP and MVP?

Let's look at MVP and MLP from a coffee perspective: a favorite example. In any city, there are hundreds of coffee shops. Even in your neighborhood, there will be several. But which one do you choose when you want a cup of coffee?

The answer depends on many factors: bean quality, barista skill, beautiful cups, comfortable chairs, availability of a lactose-free option. These are just a few factors that shape the user experience in the coffee buying process.

Every coffee shop will offer you a caffeinated drink that gives you a boost of energy. Nevertheless, there are things that make the coffee drinking experience more enjoyable.

Coffee shops strive to create the best conditions to win repeat customers. Depending on your priorities, you may choose your favorite coffee shop (or several) and stick with your choice.

Adding hot water to a spoonful of instant coffee is perhaps the simplest way to make coffee. Using minimal time and resources is the hallmark of an MVP. A hot caffeinated drink in a paper cup can be called "minimum viable coffee" in our case.

In contrast, preparing a cup of exquisite espresso requires more time (grinding beans, loading the machine, cleaning it) and resources (professional espresso machine, fancy-looking cup). Yet the product is minimal (no cream, spices, ice cream) but at the same time loveable. Such coffee brings pleasure and makes us return to the coffee shop where it is served, again and again.

But what if you oversleep and run out of the house at 9 am for a meeting? Which option would you choose? A cozy coffee shop with a barista grinding fresh beans for you, or a cup of instant coffee you can have in the car? In that case, you would likely choose the simplest coffee.

The last example shows that MLP is not always the ideal choice. Depending on the circumstances, MVP may be the best option.

When do you need an MVP?

• When time is limited
• When budget is small
• When the product is so innovative and unique that the main goal is to launch it as quickly as possible
• When the product is being created for beta testing

​When is an MLP necessary?

• When the product is not the only one in its niche and must deliver an exceptional user experience to outperform competitors
• When you want to win the loyalty of the target audience right away
• When you have already built an MVP and want to move to the next stage

How to create an MVP

Here is a brief list of what to focus on:

• Identify the user's problem and come up with a solution. Validate the idea.
• Think about the minimum set of features needed to solve the problem.
• Identify your target audience. Even with a minimum viable product, you must tailor it to the people who will use it.
• Research the market: Are there competitors? What do they offer?
• Create a user journey map. Most startups cannot afford to invest heavily in UX research at this stage, but completely ignoring research is a path to failure.
• Develop and test the MVP. The key word here is "test": remember, the MVP is a product that must be tested by real users, go through iterations, and become the foundation for building the future product.

How to build an MLP

Many product managers aim to create a minimum loveable product right away. This is a good goal, but to achieve it, several requirements must be met. Here are some important tips for developing an MLP:

• Start with functionality. Solving user problems must come before they love the product.
• Don't add too many features. The product should remain minimal as it will still undergo changes and iterations.
• Communicate with users and conduct research. A product that seems perfectly wonderful to you may not be as attractive to your target audience. Conduct several user interviews to find out how people feel about your product.
• Define attractiveness criteria. Yes, when we talk about UX research, we can even try to measure love.
• Invest in design from the start. Building a startup team typically does not start with a designer. However, to create an MLP, an experienced UX specialist should be involved from the very beginning, possibly even at the idea validation stage.

Evolution of minimum products

The concept of MVP was introduced in 2001 by Frank Robinson. MLP entered the vocabulary of product managers, startupers, and designers in 2013 thanks to Henrik Kniberg. This means that for 12 years, people focused on creating a viable product, until suddenly that was no longer enough.

What happened during that time? The number of digital products grew exponentially, competition increased. Developers and design teams put much more effort into creating a popular app.

Rising industry standards led to higher user expectations. They are no longer satisfied with something that just does its job: customers are now spoiled by elegant interfaces, smart copy, intuitive structure, beautiful visuals, lively animations - all this and much more that creates an excellent user experience.

Today, when app copy speaks to us like old friends, and marketing and advertising do everything possible to create sentimental relationships with a product, being "just a product" is no longer enough. Only brands that win people's love get loyal customers, and companies that do not invest enough in design will soon be ousted by those who manage to create that loveable product.

This story explains why people talk about MLP where they used to talk about MVP.

What else?

Along with MVP and MLP, other abbreviations are often encountered, such as MMP and MSP. They stand for Minimum Marketable Product and Minimum Sellable Product (and they are the same thing).

MMP can be used after the product has already been tested and proven viable. Creating a marketable product is the ultimate goal for all product managers.

And then there are MCR - Minimum Credible Release, MBP - Maximum Buyable Product... What's next? Minimum Profitable Product? Minimum Cult Product? Joking aside, let's wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Conclusion

Why do we need so many ways to distinguish different minimum products? Is it really necessary to start with an MVP and progress to an MLP in the early stages of development?

The key is not the terms. No matter what you call the minimum product, the goal should be clear: find product-market fit. Once that is achieved, you can seriously focus on marketing and think about moving from a minimum product to the next level, adding new features and expanding functionality.