Minimum Viable Product: A BA Word of the Day

Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This word, along with out of scope and out of the box, should be in your top three. Should be like your best friend.

Why the Minimum Viable Product Matters for BAs

Knowing what is an MVP and what is in the MVP is crucial for you as a BA.

Why is that? Because every time there is a new request, a new idea that you get through stakeholder interviews or discovery workshops - you should always get back to your knowledge of what is included in the MVP.

Then you validate the requirement that you are hearing. Does it sit in the MVP, or is it something extra?

Oftentimes, the MVP is defined very early on in the discovery phase. It is agreed upon between the delivery team and the stakeholders.

And of course, this is not only on you as a BA to define the scope of the MVP. It is a joint effort by your solution architect, delivery manager, the customer stakeholders, and their experts. Collectively you will need to define what will suffice the need of the business. Maybe not as fancy as they all would want - but it will do the job.

Does It Sit in the MVP?

Every time you get a new request - ask yourself - does it sit in the MVP or not.

Most often, the answer to this question will help you understand whether you treat the request as a clarification of existing scope - or it is a new request, and therefore should go in the backlog.

What is the last request you heard that sounded like MVP - but really was not?

Talk soon, Sergey

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