How to Choose What to Build in Your MVP

Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is all about making tough choices. With limited time, budget, and resources, you need to decide which features will provide maximum value and learning while keeping scope manageable. This guide provides a structured approach to making these critical decisions.

Understanding the True Purpose of an MVP

Before deciding what to build, it's crucial to understand what an MVP is actually for. Contrary to what many think, an MVP is not:

• A smaller, faster version of your full product
• The first version with a subset of features
• A product with low quality or minimal polish

Rather, an MVP is a tool for validated learning - the most efficient way to test your key business hypothesis with real customers. Every feature should serve this purpose.

The 3 Essential Questions for MVP Feature Selection

When evaluating potential features for your MVP, run each one through these critical questions:

1. Does this feature help validate our core business hypothesis?

Your MVP exists to test your most fundamental assumptions about your business. Every feature should directly contribute to validating or invalidating these assumptions.

2. Is this feature necessary for basic functionality?

Some features are required for your product to function at all, even at a minimal level. These are essential infrastructure features that enable your core value proposition.

3. Would users find the product valuable without this feature?

This is the "reverse test." If you removed this feature, would users still find enough value to use and pay for your product? If yes, the feature might not be essential for your MVP.

Decision-Making Frameworks for MVP Feature Selection

Beyond the essential questions, these frameworks can help you more systematically evaluate potential features:

The MoSCoW Method

Categorize features into four buckets:

Your MVP should include only Must-haves and select Should-haves that are relatively easy to implement.

Impact vs. Effort Matrix

Plot each potential feature on a 2x2 matrix based on:

• Impact: How much this feature contributes to validating your hypothesis and delivering value
• Effort: How much time, cost, and complexity is involved in implementing this feature

For your MVP, prioritize "Quick Wins" first, then carefully consider "Major Projects" only if they are central to your value proposition.

The Kano Model

The Kano Model classifies features based on customer satisfaction:

• Basic Expectations: Features users expect as fundamental (absence causes dissatisfaction)
• Performance Features: Features where better implementation leads to more satisfaction
• Delighters: Unexpected features that create high satisfaction but aren't missed if absent

For MVPs, focus on Basic Expectations and key Performance Features. Save Delighters for future releases.

Using Customer Insights to Guide Selection

Features should be selected based on customer needs, not internal preferences. Here's how to incorporate customer insights:

1. Problem Validation First

Before selecting features, ensure you've validated that the problem you're solving actually exists. Conduct problem interviews with at least 10-15 potential customers to understand:

• The severity of the problem (how painful is it?)
• Frequency of the problem (how often do they encounter it?)
• Current solutions and their shortcomings
• Willingness to pay for a better solution

2. Feature Ranking Exercises

Ask potential customers to rank potential features. You can use:

• Card sorting: Have customers organize features into groups by importance
• Buy-a-feature: Give customers a limited budget and ask which features they'd "buy"
• Feature preference surveys: Simple surveys asking users to rate features on importance scales

3. Observe Current Workarounds

Look at how customers currently solve the problem. The most effective features often address pain points in existing workflows rather than creating entirely new behaviors.

Common MVP Feature Selection Pitfalls

Real-World Examples: Feature Selection in Action

Spotify's MVP

Slack's MVP

A Step-by-Step Process for MVP Feature Selection

Here's a practical process you can follow to decide what to build in your MVP:

1. Define your core business hypothesis - What key assumption are you testing?
2. List all potential features - Brainstorm without filtering initially
3. Categorize using MoSCoW - Sort into Must/Should/Could/Won't have
4. Apply impact-effort analysis - Focus on high-impact, lower-effort features
5. Seek customer input - Validate your assumptions with potential users
6. Create your MVP feature shortlist - Aim for no more than 5-7 core features
7. Define your "not doing" list - Explicitly document features you're excluding
8. Create learning metrics - Define how you'll measure if each feature validates your hypothesis

Conclusion: Less is More with MVPs

The most successful MVPs are ruthlessly focused on testing core business hypotheses with minimal features. Remember that an MVP is not about building a smaller version of your final product—it's about learning as efficiently as possible.

By rigorously applying the frameworks and processes outlined in this guide, you can avoid the common pitfalls of feature bloat and scope creep that delay so many startups. The best MVPs solve one problem exceptionally well rather than attempting to address multiple problems adequately.

And finally, remember that choosing what not to build is just as important as choosing what to build. Every feature you exclude from your MVP means you can launch faster, learn sooner, and adapt more quickly to what your personas actually need.