Week 9: Defining your MVP and prototyping#

Studio Abstract#

In this studio, you will sketch out the features of your MVP, put together a paper prototype for it, and test it on others in your studio.

We will do the following exercises:

  • Sketch out the main functionality of your MVP

  • Define a paper prototype from your sketch

  • Get feedback on your paper prototype

  • Allocate which team members will implement which features of your MVP

Exercise 1: Sketching out your MVP#

⏱️ 45 minutes - Group

Devices closed for this exercise

Using the paper provided by your legends, sketch out the features of your MVP.

A sketch is just a rough representation of the idea of your product. Putting it down on paper before building wireframes or full applications helps:

  • Surface new ideas and edge cases

  • Force early design decisions

  • Avoid rework during development when you realise there are things missing.

A sketch of a product called Trip Tracker. It has a set of screens, such as 'Start your trip', 'Name the trip', 'Maps with trips', etc., and a set of arrows between screens showing the flow.

Fig. 32 A sketch of an MVP for Trip Tracker. An MVP sketch should be rough and easy to change – it is there to make your product idea more concrete to you and others – it is not a design for a user interface. Image source: Anna Delendik#

Think of the following:

  1. What are the features that will implement our value proposition?

  2. How do they fit together in an application?

  3. What is the flow between different features?

  4. Are these really the minimum set of features required for an MVP?

Note

It is a minimal viable product – you do NOT need to define every idea that you have nor sketch out functionality that you plan to add in the future.

Show your legend your sketch before the break.

Take a break#

⏱️ 10 minutes

Exercise 2: Paper prototyping#

⏱️ 30 minutes - Group

Devices closed for this exercise

Next, take your sketch and put together a paper prototype of your MVP features.

As a team, write down three specific tasks a user should be able to complete using your MVP (e.g., ‘Log in and find their last trip’). These tasks will guide your prototype testing.

Exercise 3: Basic usability test#

⏱️ 30 minutes - Class

Devices closed for this exercise

Two members of the team will take the paper prototype to one other team, ask each person in that other team to use it to complete the three tasks identified above.

Tip

Give the tester one task at a time.

Don’t help them — just observe.

Ask them to “think aloud” as they use the prototype.

Note where they hesitate, get confused, or make errors.

Note

This is a very basic form of usability testing, aimed to get input on your product, but also to help you to think about your design better.

Plan#

⏱️ 15 minutes - Group

Devices can be used for this exercise

As a team, allocate who will implement which MVP features and by when.

Write this down as a plan to show your legend, and add it to your Trello (or whatever you use to record who will do what).

Exit ticket#

You exit ticket is:

  • Show your legend your sketch (before the break)

  • Demonstrate your paper prototype to your legend and get feedback

  • Show your legend your team plan for who will implement which features