How often have you thought about building an MVP but stopped because you do not have technical skills or a technical co-founder? Here are ways that you can build MVP without assistance.
MVP means “Minimum Viable Product”. It enables you to collect a good amount of information about customers with less effort and time. Using MVP allows you to satisfy customers and their ability to pay. More importantly, it minimizes the risk and cost of building the wrong product.
It develops an application with minimum functionality. In simple words, it allows testing products in the market without any significant investment. In addition, it is a version of a product with some features that companies launch for customers to use and provide feedback for further product development in future. It is helpful to avoid unnecessary work and lengthy processes.
Let’s walk through the process to build an MVP without writing any codes and programming language.
Wireframe Your Application out First
The first step is to build a prototype or MVP that is a blueprint that shows the layout and flow of what you are developing. This can be a representation of screen and structure. In other words, it is a skeletal framework to represent shape and volume.
You can use a wireframe tool, develop a user persona and decide where you want the user to go. Then you can sketch out your wireframe and create a prototype first. The application you develop on mobile first will give you a clear idea of the complete process. It will explain the user experience and how they will navigate the solution.
Read more: 25+ Wireframe Tools for UI/UX Designers
Survey Your Target Demographic
Before going towards the development of the MVP process, you need to know the needs of your target demographics. It is possible by conducting surveys. The more information you have, the higher the chances for success.
Teila Ugoro, Head of Marketing at Growthboost, has this to say on the importance of surveying your target demographic – “surveying potential customers is always the most important task you need to do before you start building your product or creating your service. Surveying allows you to find the exact pain points you need to address.”
The most important point to consider is to find what competitors are offering, and you can get an idea of whether the product will stand out. It is essential to go along with market needs to ensure maximum success rate. Surveying will benefit you in both situations during the prototype planning phase or soon before you plan to launch your product in the market.
Presell Your Product
Preselling refers to providing an overview of the product when you have not built it yet. It is always helpful to give a visual overview because it has a high impact. In addition, you can include call-to-action and share your idea for what you want the potential customers to do.
Christina Elroy, founder of GetSolitare has this to say on the essence of surveying your customers beforehand “one of the most common startup mistakes you see, especially from first time founders, and I’m guilty of this myself, is that we build products without properly surveying your potential customers first. On top of that, if you’re able to take it a step further, but preselling your product or just taking a small deposit to confirm that they’re serious, this will help you nail down the product they actually want and will pay for.”
Many businesses launched their products this way, and they got successful results. It means that you sell the idea of your solution to your audience to enhance their interest and willingness to pay. You can potentially sell a product before it gets released. It focuses on research, validation, preparation and lead generation.
Hire a Freelance Developer
Hiring a remote technical developer can bring you many benefits. You can look for someone who has a specialization in MVP development for startups. In this way, you will get support in the technical aspect as well. But remember not to outsource the work to a developer who does not have enough knowledge, or else you will have to face specific technical issues.
James Worthy, creator of Signature Generator mentions: As a non-technical founder, it can be challenging to source a developer because everyone claims they’re competent when applying for a job. You can get around this by going directly to platforms that vet talent for you. These are more expensive but you can be sure of the developer’s quality. Conversely, you can tap your own network. If you know a few technical people, you can ask them to help out with preliminary screening of applicants to ensure they have the necessary technical know-how.
DIY with no Co-Code Applications
We understand that it is hard and time-consuming to do it yourself with a no-code application. However, it is challenging to build an MVP if you do not have technical knowledge and skillset. But the internet is full of resources to teach you everything. With the help of resources and tutorials, you can develop your product successfully without any coding knowledge.
There are no-code building platforms that provide a founder that you can use without any technical background. It allows you to build an application by simply dragging and dropping the elements of the app. It is a faster way that teaches you how to code. Moreover, building a no-code app allows complete control over your developmental process that is possible with less effort.
Final thoughts
All in all, you can launch an MVP with less effort in a short time with the procedure above. So, you don’t need to worry if you do not have technical information. It makes it easier for companies to launch their products quickly without any technical co-founder as a partner.
