Ilustration based on Mickey Rooney gifting a present. Source MGM/Getty

As a UX/UI/HCI/Product designer, you will work to solve problems for your users. In the mouths of many business start-ups, there is the discussion of the MVP — The Minimum Viable Product.

Working towards a things: The MVP

A minimum viable product (MVP) is the idea that a product team should produce the simplest version of a software product that only offers the highest value to its users in order to be first to market. If you are not familiar with Eric Ries he wrote a book called “The Lean Startup” which has impacted the way many software companies, entrepreneurs, and start­ups have oriented their software development teams. Subsequently, the teams develop software solutions by focusing on continuous development and MVPs for producing solutions.

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898

The MVP prefaces the validation of ideas upfront and that learning comes in the form of whether your customers will actually purchase your product. Human-centered software development has the ability to address the gathering of the possible requirements of an MVP. A key premise behind the MVP idea is that a software team will produce an actual product that you can offer to customers and observe their actual behavior with the product or service. An MVP is the finished product whereas a prototype is used to be learned from before completing a final launchable solution. UX designers can use their skills to see what people actually do with respect to a product which is why we can get pulled into creating MVPs. The thinking behind an MVP is that testing users on actual products are more reliable than asking people what they might do.

WB’s Coyote is racing after a roadrunner for a quick meal. https://giphy.com/gifs/food52-food-breakfast-52-9Wi2SP0YwCggg

The challenge with an MVP is that it is prefaces that a fast-moving design team can address users’ needs quickly which values speed and being first to market over solving the user’s problem the “right way”. An issue is that an MVP places an undue burden on selling the MVP solution as the correct answer rather than validating multiple solutions through prototyping. The MVP becomes a defacto foundation for a solution and will only be abandoned if it doesn’t prove to capture the desired users. Many MVPs fall subject to “pivots” or changes in direction from a business if they don’t get the solution right at first.

Axe hitting a wooden bullseye: https://giphy.com/gifs/SweetAxe-axethrowing-axepert-axethrower-Y4yeNPsR7CYhMHLsKV

The high-pressure MVP existence has helped some start-ups address their users faster. However, it also inherits a ton of risk.

A community market https://unsplash.com/photos/J8ksCswaBYo

Working towards a community: The MVC

In order to minimize this risk, I think designers and businesses should consider the Minimum Viable Culture (MVC) which allows user research and prototyping to drive what your users think can be more successful.

“Minimum viable culture” refers to the set of shared values and purposes needed to deliver a company’s value proposition to customers. In other words, users don’t just use software because it solves their problem, they rely on and trust the brands’ ability to create solutions over time. If your product or company values do not resonate with your users, then you risk convincing them that using your software can solve their problems. Culture goes both ways and software solutions are a response to your user’s culture. The two-way street is why user research and driving human-centered value via prototyping is essential.

In many ways, software solutions are wrapped in their own form of culture. For example, look at the number of users who call themselves a “Mac Person.” Like somehow using Apple software has altered their personality and fundamentally changed their approach to learning and using the software. The reality is this is true, however, if you look deeper at this sentiment it is quickly connected to the idea of minimum viable culture. Learning and using Apple software and a computer OS is participating in the computer culture of Apple and then establishes a set of software values that then get applied to other software solutions and applications on and off their platform. The user then participates in software connected to the users’ experience expectations set by Apple. The software doesn’t exist in a vacuum it is all interconnected which makes paying attention to the cultures that use and create software more important over time.

An animation of connected technology https://giphy.com/gifs/tech-ready-3ohzdIEEN9D9wLIINy

The reason for considering and building software through an MVC (minimum viable culture) lens is that it allows the UX designer and their user research counterparts to assist in building rapid prototypes in order to narrow in on what makes their software prototype successful. A minimum viable culture prototype is not just about validation but rather a method to see if the software solutions are aligned with the cultures they are ultimately serving. A Product/UX/HCI designer can be much more confident in a software solution when they know their solutions have been vetted by their users and also valued by themselves as well. A software solution has many possibilities but if a designer can address enough of the user's culture it will ultimately support their solution and in turn, is less likely to be changed, pivoted, or abandoned as a viable solution (hopefully).

Bring MVC to your Organization

Ideas of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) into MVC (Minimum Viable Culture)

Some software brands have deeply understood the idea of MVC. If you end up working on a software product that is designed for a particular operating system (ie iOS) you too will be required not only to use software patterns for their design systems but also iOS has many oversight processes for allowing your software exist on their platforms. As a UX designer your ability to be versed with multiple software communities will allow you not only to research them more effectively but also make you more valuable as a team member as you can switch between platforms all while folding human-centered ideas and values into all of the software solutions and the communities they serve.

(This article is an extension of a passage from my book “Learn Human-Computer Interaction” + some additional resources.)

More resources to dig into this MVC approach: