Minimum Viable Product FAIL!!!

Minimum viable Products. There are some great examples out there.

but today we're going to look at a really bad one.

Hi this is Gary

Welcome to Development That Pays

I like to think that I know a fair bit about working in an AGILE way.

I even know a little bit about working in a LEAN fashion.

But I don't always DO what I KNOW.

And today I want to show you a perfect example of me NOT doing what I KNOW.

It's in my shed.

And that's where we'll be heading... just as soon as I've made a nice cup of tea.

All done. Let's go.

Here we are. Not as untidy as usual - I must have been expecting you ;)

Just pop my tea here.

It's actually this cup holder that I've brought you to see.

When I made it, I told myself is was an MVP. Now I'm not so sure.

Let's break it down.

Is it a PRODUCT?

It is in the sense that it was produced for a specific end user (Me!)

And it's more than a prototype: this back panel has been primed and painted. And this bit has been varnished. That's more work than I would ever do for a prototype.

What about Minimal? Not really.

This part is made of oak. If you know your timbers, you'll know that oak is a hardwood. Hardwood means that it's expensive. It has maans that it's hard - difficult - to work.

This part here is angled. I don't have a power tool to do this - it had to be shaped by hand. And I can tell you it took ages.

Finally, is is VIABLE?

It's not terrible.

It's easy to "park" a cup. And it holds the cup securely. (Shame this is the only cup it works for.)

There are a couple of things there are less than ideal:

If I'm not careful and I jam my cup in too hard, when i pick it up the whole thing comes off. There's then a danger that I spill my tea, perish the thought!

The second issue is to do with the environment.

I work with wood. And power tools. That means sawdust. Lots of it.

It goes everywhere, including into my tea. A holder with some sort of cover would have been a good idea.

Here's the thing: I could have discovered these shortcomings without my not-so-minimal not-so-viable MVP.

A quick and dirty PROTOTYPE would have done the trick.

Thank you very much for watching

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