How to Launch a Website Using the MVP Model: Quickly and Smartly

Launching a website is always an investment: time, resources, effort. But not every project requires a complex architecture at the start. Sometimes it is enough to test the idea, collect the first responses and establish contact with customers. An MVP website does an excellent job of this — a simple but functional project that allows you to understand whether the market needs your products / services.

What is an MVP and why does a business need it

This is the name for a minimum viable product — a basic version of a website or web service that allows you to quickly enter the market. Its features:

• minimal set of functions: it is based on the idea "the less, the better". It contains only the most important functions and capabilities, which allows you to quickly launch a website and start collecting data;
• early testing of business ideas: the main reason for an MVP is to determine whether your idea will work and whether it is worth investing in it further, for example, in creating an online store;
• quick entry into the market: thanks to this approach, development time is reduced to several weeks or even days. This allows a business to get ahead of competitors and be the first to receive feedback from users;
• flexibility: this is not the final product, but the start of a project. Based on feedback and metrics, you will quickly make changes, and then start developing the site;
• affordable price: no need to spend a budget on developing complex designs and functions, which allows you to focus on primary tasks.

Thus, the definition of an MVP site sounds simple. This is the name of a resource that contains only the key functions necessary for testing an idea. By using it, you reduce risks, do not waste resources on unnecessary functions and get a chance to get ahead of competitors. This is the main benefit of an MVP for business.

Launch stages

How to properly launch the basic version of a site? We will tell you step by step.

TOR and definition of functions

The first thing you should know is how to draw up a TOR for an MVP:

• define the main problems and tasks that the site should solve, as well as the target audience;
• determine what functions you need for an MVP. Evaluate them according to the criteria of importance, urgency and leave the "core" - that is, the options without which the site will not be able to perform the main task;
• describe the functionality of the MVP site, technical requirements — platform, limitations, integration with external services;
• all of the above should be presented in one document — as a list or table of tasks. The MVP specification of a web project should have a clear and structured description of what functions need to be implemented in the minimum viable version of the site.

After the technical requirements and functions are approved, we move on to the design and development of the site.

Design, layout, release

At the design stage, wireframes are created — wireframe diagrams of the main pages, as well as a minimal style guide that describes the color palette, fonts and basic UI elements. If you are interested in developing a corporate website, it is important to work out user scenarios and ensure the adaptability of the interface, but without unnecessary decorative elements and complex animations. As a result, you will receive an MVP website design — a ready-made set of layouts for the most important pages that fully complies with the technical requirements.

Next, you should determine how to layout the MVP so that it works correctly and is understandable to both the browser and search engines. To do this, you need to:

• ensure adaptability for smartphones, tablets and desktops without connecting third-party "heavy" frameworks;
• optimize resources. The layout of the MVP site involves the use of technologies that allow pages to load quickly;
• connect analytics services (Google Analytics) and mailings/CRM.

Next comes the MVP release stage. You need to choose a reliable hosting or cloud provider, set up a domain and SSL certificate. Before launching an MVP site in Ukraine, you need to check the correctness of all forms, connect monitoring of the main metrics in order to quickly respond to the first comments and errors.

What is the difference between an MVP and a prototype

If we talk about the difference between a prototype and an MVP, it's simple:

• MVP is a full-fledged, working product with a real interface and basic functionality that users can interact with and provide feedback;
• a prototype is a layout created to test an idea, navigation, and visual perception, but is not intended for real use or collecting metrics.

Thus, the difference between an MVP and a prototype is that the former directly interacts with the user, while the latter only demonstrates how the site will look and work.

Tools for MVP

At the start, it is important to immediately select the optimal tools for the MVP site, which will allow you to focus on business tasks, and not on technical details. For example:

• Tilda for MVP is great for quickly building landing pages and simple projects. It offers ready-made blocks, Zero Block for fine-tuning the design, and instant integration with CRM and email services. Thus, the platform for the MVP landing helps to launch the first version in just a couple of days;
• if you need more flexibility in animations and structure, pay attention to Webflow for MVP. Its visual editor provides the ability to export clean code and a built-in CMS for content management.

If you need to completely abandon programming, pay attention to creating an MVP without code. For example, Bubble allows you to customize logic, forms, integrations and analytics through a visual interface without a single line of code. If you need a unique product, you can order custom development from scratch.

Mistakes when launching an MVP

ypical mistakes when launching an MVP:

• functionality overload - leads to delays and unnecessary expenses;
• lack of clear criteria that will allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of the product;
• lack of feedback - an error during launch, which leads to incorrect priorities in improvements;
• ignoring MVP testing before release - the cause of critical errors after launch;
• lack of an update plan, due to which the product quickly becomes irrelevant.

How to avoid mistakes in MVP? Contact the specialists of the IT company Megasite in Kyiv, who are well versed in all the nuances of its development and will create a working product for you without unnecessary costs and risks.