Can Scrum and Minimum Viable Product methodologies work together?

Undoubtedly if analyzed under the context of agile methodologies, Scrum and minimum viable product present several points in common, especially when it comes to verifying in advance if a product that is being developed really meets the needs of the end customer.

But before we show a relationship between Scrum and minimum viable product, it’s worth remembering these two concepts.

See also in our blog: Understand what the minimally viable product is with agile

Minimum viable product scrum: Working together

As we said, let’s start with the definitions:

What is Scrum?

Scrum is an agile methodology used for the development of new products, very popular among software developers, and has been adapted to other types of processes.

It follows a series of rituals and has rigidly defined roles. Its objective is to develop products and services through small incremental advances in its functionalities and attributes, always through the validation of the value achieved with the changes.

Among its main rituals and agents, we can highlight:

  • Backlog: A list of tasks that must be performed by the teams to develop the desired product or service.
  • Sprint: A period of time in which some backlog task sets are completed in order to consolidate incremental advancement in the product or service.
  • Product owner: Person responsible for defending the interests of customers or end users, as well as defining which tasks will be allocated to the Backlog.
  • Scrum Master: In charge of being a guardian of the Scrum methodology and making sure that it’s being followed correctly.
  • Daily Scrum: Daily meetings, usually in the morning, where team members talk about their progress the day before and what they intend to accomplish that day.
  • Retrospective: At the end of each Sprint the team meets to evaluate their results, overcome difficulties and plan the next Sprint, always relying on previous Sprint learning.

Find out more: Secrets of the Agile Scrum Methodology by those who use it every day

What is MVP (Minimum Viable Product)?

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, MVP is not necessarily a ready-to-market product with some minimal features for it to be tested by consumers in real consumer situations.

In the original concept selection and prototype testing with the help of potential end users was already a way to test a minimally viable product.

MVP is the easiest way to test a product with the least possible resource usage before putting it on the market. It’s a methodology of continuous and incremental improvements, aiming to better meet the needs and desires of the end user.

One of the great advantages of this approach is that if there is an error, or some attribute or functionality developed that doesn’t truly meet the demands of the market, this can be corrected even in the initial phases of the project.

And you go back to the drawing board to create a new MVP – based on what you learned from that mistake or direction change – to continue testing your improvements with new incremental development and test cycles.

A classic example of MVP testing without a real product on the market is the use of a crowdfunding platform to validate the idea of ​​a product.

It describes what it does, how much it will cost, how it will be marketed, its attributes and benefits and one can even use a highly realistic 3D animation simulating its features, or even filming a very well-finished prototype being used by users final results.

Depending on the investors’ response, it’s possible to know in an agile and inexpensive way if the idea is really viable and can work or needs adjustments.

See more: Don’t confuse them anymore: Agile, Scrum and Kanban


Joining Scrum and MVP

After all we’ve talked about, just by describing the concepts of Scrum and MVP, it’s pretty obvious how it’s really feasible and even desirable to unite these two forms of new product development.

In essence, the two approaches can be summarized in 5 phrases:

  1. Analyze the current situation
  2. Advance towards your goal
  3. Review and validate the results
  4. Make adjustments and improvements based on what you’ve learned
  5. Go back to the beginning and start a new cycle of improvements

Are you a fan of Scrum and Agile methodologies? Then read this article from our blog: One of the authors of the manifesto criticizes Agile and Scrum methodologies

Developing products and services involves continually improving, a concept that also applies to BPM.

With HEFLO you can model processes through the cloud using BPMN notation, share your diagrams to work collaboratively and even create automation and dashboards to collect performance indicators, analyze results and restart the modeling of new processes, seeking constant improvements.

Visit our YouTube channel and learn more about BPM: We are HEFLO

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