A debate that often comes up in product building (which I disagree with) is that an MVP doesn’t need design.
The debate often come from product creators and stakeholders who are in a hurry, or eyeing efficiency with limited early finance. That’s completely understandable, but in my opinion based too much in logic.
Another reason the debate persists is that the reasons it’s the wrong thinking are hard to articulate in a convincing way. After all, design often feels slow and abstract, whereas building feels more active and precise.
I believe that there are a few important ways design plays an important role in the success of a product MVP.
Design is research
Part of Design Thinking is to base your ideas on research, however small. Starting with some basic knowledge of your users and competitors first will help you build the right thing, not waste time and resource on something that’s routed in assumptions. It will help you validate your ideas, and in choosing more features to build once you’ve done that.
When I put together my ebook I used this process. I first observed pain points in public, then put in the time to interview potential users and show them a prototype. That gave me enough insight to be confident of writing the entire content, and eventually launching.
Don’t waste time and resource on something that’s routed in assumptions
Design affords value
Even though you’re building something minimal with an MVP, it still needs some fundamentals of design to stand a good chance of success. In other words, it needs some design to be valuable.
Why? These days users expect any online experience to look and work to a basic level. They expect a it to be usable and clear, even if they know there’s more polish to come.
Of course you can always get away with less design, but that puts more pressure on the value of your functions and content.
Of course you can always get away with less design, but that puts more pressure on the value of your functions and content.
Design affords functionality
Design is not just about visual aesthetics, as is often assumed by those who are less experienced with it. Design also plays a key role in the functionality of the product, through UX.
Obviously we’re not going to spend lots of time optimising the user experience at this stage, but if there’s been little thinking in this area it could make the MVP too hard to use in testing. That will mean more iterations and development to get good feedback, which, depending on your process, could make the whole development cycle more expensive.
If there’s been little thinking in design, it could make the MVP too hard to use in testing.
So what are some examples of MVPs where design has played a role? Let’s take a quick look at two brands everyone will be familiar with.
In these examples, although the visual design wasn’t very polished, crucially the core elements we associate with the products today were already there, designed as part of the experience.
Google search
This is a screenshot of Google from its very early days in Beta. Note the following, which are designed to centre your attention on the product’s core function and purpose:
- The page had lots of white space present
- The search bar was the centrepiece of the page
An important point here is that I don’t think these happened by accident, or by simply building the functions. These were intentional. Most websites at the time were cluttered.
Google’s minimalistic design allowed users to quickly understand the purpose of the product and perform tasks without distractions. By focussing on a single search box as the primary input, with instructions, the simplicity made it easy for users to understand how to interact with the product and obtain the desired results.
Product Hunt
This is a screenshot of Product Hunt from its early days. Note the following, which afford the product’s core functions and purpose:
- The upvote function was the centrepiece
- The visual aesthetic was uncluttered and lacked distractions
As with Google, Product Hunt’s MVP took a similar, intentional approach, keeping things minimal and user-centred. With a simple visual design and visual cues, the core functions (discovery and voting) were easy to recognise and interact with. Most likely, its simplicity probably made it easily adaptable to mobile use as well, speeding up early adapotion.
Product creators can ensure that their MVP is not only usable and clear, but also well-positioned to evolve.
So we can see that while it may be tempting to skip or reduce design input when creating an MVP, it can be valuable in encouraging interaction – affording both value and functionality to a product, even in its early stages.
By involving and considering at least some design from the outset, product creators can ensure that their MVP is not only usable and clear, but also well-positioned to evolve into a successful product in the long run.
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