Introduction

Yes, we launched an MVP in 5 days. Designed, shipped it, and tested it.

While a traditional longer-term design approach will take weeks to months just to get a product out, we believe in just putting an MVP into the market, gathering feedback and iterating from there.

That way we can have data to back our decisions. Not just guesswork. This is Lean UX.

Why Lean UX?

• ‍Cost-efficient: Traditional approaches often involve significant investments before any product is launched to the public. This can sometimes result in hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on features or designs that users might not find valuable. In contrast, Lean UX approaches aim for cost-effective solutions by focusing on the core value proposition.
• ‍Rapid feedback loop: Launching an MVP quickly allows us to gather real-world feedback much faster. This feedback is invaluable as it comes directly from users and can guide further development, ensuring that the product evolves in response to actual user needs and preferences.
• ‍Fail fast: Not all ideas will be successful, and that's okay. The faster you can determine which parts of your product aren’t working, the quicker you can either adjust the features or pivot to a more promising direction. 
• ‍Reduce waste: Lean UX emphasizes the elimination of any work that doesn’t add value to the end user. This reduces the wasted resources on features or designs that aren't aligned with user needs.
• ‍Increased flexibility: A quick MVP launch, combined with the iterative nature of Lean UX, allows us to be more adaptable with our design. As market conditions change or new information becomes available, we can adjust designs more promptly.

Background

Our client wants to launch a platform to connect learners with experts and employers. He wanted to challenge the age-old model in which learners graduate bogged down in debt, while having skills that may or may not be relevant to the industry.

Our client’s final product was big: $200,000 - $500,000+ for a world-class product when fully developed.

And he needed something fast for a conference he was attending that month, where he was going to pitch the idea and gather valuable feedback.

The solution

With these in mind, we decided to build a lean one-page website where we could capture interest through the idea, the industry problems, and the pain points.

The goal wasn’t to build something that was revolutionary in its design. We wanted a simple way to funnel people to his email list.

He would use the website for credibility and a reading guide at the conference and collect email addresses for his mailing list via a signup form.

The process

• Understand. We start with a user-centered design canvas (UCDC). It’s an easy, quick, and effective tool for facilitating strong alignment.
• Empathize. With the UCDC we have an excellent starting point for creating a user-focused website that really resonates with their motivations and frustrations. 
• Define success. We decided that out of a crowd of 10,000 people, we wanted a 1% conversion rate signing up for the waitlist
• Design workshop. We always create a few different low-fidelity concepts, to quickly test ideas with the client to find the right fit for their brand, goals and story they want to tell.
• Test. We got feedback, and iterated until we got something we were ready to build.
• Build. Monitor. Iterate

And Voilà! We have a testable MVP ready to get feedback in real life from real target customers. 

The end result

• Planning, research, and full design completed in 5 days.
• No long meetings, only efficient a-sync communication
• A scientific way of testing the waters with an MVP without dropping hundreds of thousands blind.
• True customer feedback to help drive the product direction.
• A satisfied client.