Concepts
This is achieved through the management strategy of organizing requirements into minimally viable products (MVPs) or minimally marketable features. This method works exceptionally well in the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) exam and constitutes an essential part of the examination.
To start with a proper perspective, let’s understand Minimal Marketable Features (MMFs) and Minimal Viable Products (MVPs).
Minimal Marketable Features (MMFs): MMFs are the smallest subset of a product that delivers value to the customer and can thus be released as a standalone product. It is about achieving the size of a product to bring the most significant commercial value to the business with the least effort.
Minimal Viable Product (MVP): MVP, on the other hand, refers to the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. It is the smallest possible version of the product that effectively tests the overall hypothesis.
As a project manager preparing for PMI-ACP, understanding the subtle differences and applications of MMFs and MVPs can significantly enhance your ability to provide value promptly to your stakeholders.
Organizing requirements into MMFs and MVPs
To organize requirements effectively into MMFs and MVPs, you can follow this simple tactical approach:
- Understand and Identify: The initial step involves understanding business requirements and identifying what value signifies for the project’s stakeholders. Remember, the value is from the customer’s rather than the producer’s perspective. Understanding customers’ critical needs forms the backbone of the MVP.
- Prioritize: Next, prioritize the identified requirements based on their value to the project’s stakeholders. Use agile prioritization techniques such as MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have) or value-based prioritization.
- Chunk Down: Split large requirements into smaller, manageable pieces, which can still deliver value independently.
- Develop and Test: Develop and test the MMFs or MVPs independently from each other to assure their functionality.
- Continuous Feedback: Release the MMF or the MVP and get feedback using real user data.
For example, if you are developing a new mobile app, the MVP might be an app that only has an account creation feature and one primary function of the app. Despite its limited feature set, this product is still viable and offers value to the user.
Overall, the strategy of organizing requirements into minimally marketable features or minimally viable products, applied in PMI-ACP, is about delivering maximum value with minimum resources. It offers flexibility, reduces waste, and ensures an early return on investment (ROI).
Progressive elaboration and regular feedback through sprint reviews allows teams to continually refine the product backlog and focus on delivering true business value. This strategy perfectly aligns with the agile principles of prioritizing customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of software, welcoming changing requirements, and regularly reflecting on how to become more effective.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
True or False: Small releasable increments can lead to early recognition and delivery of value.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Organizing requirements into small releasable increments or minimally marketable features allows for rapid feedback and early delivery of value.
Which of the following is a benefit of organizing requirements into minimally marketable features or minimally viable products?
- A. Faster time to market
- B. More detailed planning
- C. Increased costs
- D. Lower customer satisfaction
Answer: A. Faster time to market
Explanation: Organizing requirements into minimally marketable features or minimally viable products reduces the time to market by facilitating the rapid delivery of value.
True or False: Developing a minimally viable product (MVP) can lead to less customer feedback?
- Answer: False
Explanation: Developing an MVP allows for rapid experimentation and learning through direct customer feedback.
The practice of organizing requirements into small releasable increments is most associated with which Agile principle?
- A. Simplicity
- B. Welcoming change
- C. Delivering working software frequently
- D. Building around motivated individuals
Answer: C. Delivering working software frequently
Explanation: This principle emphasizes the importance of delivering value to the customer frequently, which is achieved by developing in small releasable increments.
True or False: An MVP is a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development?
- Answer: True
Explanation: The concept of the MVP is to create a product with enough features to attract early adopters and gather feedback for future development.
Creating a minimally viable product (MVP) before investing in a fully-fledged product helps:
- A. Reduce risk
- B. Ensure customer satisfaction
- C. Cut costs
- D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above
Explanation: By developing an MVP, teams can ensure that the product meets customer needs, reduces the risk of failure, and minimizes unnecessary investment.
True or False: Small releasable increments need not be fully functional.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Each small releasable increment or minimally marketable feature should be a fully functional piece of work that offers value.
Which of the following is a technique for developing minimally viable products (MVPs)?
- A. Lean Start-up
- B. Kaizen
- C. The Pomodoro Technique
- D. Pareto principle
Answer: A. Lean Start-up
Explanation: Lean Start-up methodology emphasizes the creation of MVPs for the purpose of learning, experimentation, and rapid iteration.
Multiple select: The benefits of organizing requirements into small releasable increments include:
- A. Early recognition of value
- B. Early customer feedback
- C. Lower development costs
- D. Slower time-to-market
Answer: A. Early recognition of value, B. Early customer feedback, C. Lower development costs
Explanation: Organizing requirements into small releasable increments allows for early delivery and recognition of value, early customer feedback, and reduced development costs by avoiding work on features that do not provide value.
True or False: In Agile, it’s better to delay releasing until all features are completed.
- Answer: False
Explanation: In Agile, the aim is to release small increments that are usable and add value, it does not wait until all features are fully completed.
Great post! Minimally viable products (MVPs) and minimally marketable features (MMFs) are crucial for early delivery of value.
I appreciate this post. Organizing requirements into MVPs and MMFs can drastically improve project flexibility.
This approach helps in delivering work faster and with better quality.
Can someone explain the difference between MVP and MMF in more detail?
Thanks for sharing this! Exactly what I needed for my PMI-ACP studies.
I’ve personally found it hard to slice features into MMFs. Any tips?
Excellent insight into agile methodologies. This is very helpful for preparing PMI-ACP.
This was a helpful read, but I think it oversimplifies the challenge of defining MVPs in larger enterprise environments.