TL;DR: Fast development tools make it easy to build things nobody wants. A 60-minute constraint workshop forces your team to cut distractions, isolate the core customer problem, and test that value manually before writing code.
A minimum viable product exercise is a structured team workshop. It defines what to build first. It stops teams from debating features. It forces them to prove demand.
Founders often mistake "easy to build" for "belongs in the first release."
Consider an AI-personalized workout app that failed to get traction. The founding team considered a full rebuild. Instead of rewriting the minimum viable product, they stopped building entirely.
They sold a 14-day concierge pilot to 15 real buyers. They delivered the "AI" personalization manually using a WhatsApp thread.
After two weeks, 40% of the testers wanted to buy the £60 subscription. Only then did the team write the code to automate the process.
The most common scope mistake is building the product before proving demand. This includes cheap extras like light and dark themes. AI makes development fast. This just means it is faster to build products nobody needs.
The Manual Before Automated Scope Check
Establish a rule before you start the team exercise. Keep a feature out of the first build if it does not test a core pain or a purchasing intent.
You need to identify the most painful customer problem. Then, ask your team a hard question. Can you deliver that exact outcome manually to paying prospects?
"Easy to build" is never a valid reason to include a feature. You are looking for proof of demand.
If you can manually provide the core outcome, do that first. Test the core value without scaling it when uncertainty remains.
Workshop Requirements
You need the right setup to run this exercise effectively.
Facilitator: One person to enforce time limits and cut debates.
Participants: Core product, engineering, and founder roles (maximum 5 people).
Preparation: A clear target customer and a known problem.
Materials: Sticky notes, a whiteboard, or a shared digital board.
Final Output: A minimum viable product presentation of the agreed scope to share with the wider company.
The 60-Minute MVP Exercise Framework
An MVP exercise is not a brainstorming session. It is a constraint workshop. It forces the team to eliminate distractions and align on what matters.
Bring the team together for a strict 60-minute session. Use this agenda table to guide the meeting.
Time | Activity | Prompt | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
10 min | Frame the Problem | Who is the customer and what is their pain? | One agreed problem hypothesis. |
10 min | List Capabilities | What must the product do to solve this pain? | List of outcome-focused capabilities. |
15 min | Apply Inclusion Tests | Does this test the core pain or purchasing intent? | Filtered list of testable items. |
15 min | Rank and Cut Scope | Which of these best proves the hypothesis? | The final minimum scope. |
10 min | Define Evidence | What metric proves purchasing intent? | Assigned metrics and owners. |
1. Frame the Problem (10 minutes)
Start by stating the specific customer and their painful problem. You cannot move forward if the team disagrees on the primary problem.
Write down the hypothesis you are testing. You need a clear test card. This outlines the assumption and the expected result.
Output: One agreed problem hypothesis.
2. Generate Candidate Capabilities (10 minutes)
Have the team list what the product needs to do. Keep these items at the capability level. Do not write detailed user stories. Use comparable feature cards to show the expected outcome and the required effort.
Output: List of outcome-focused capabilities.
3. Apply Inclusion Tests (15 minutes)
Run every capability through the core inclusion test. Ask: Does this directly test the core pain or purchasing intent? Defer the feature if the answer is no.
This is where you remove easy but useless additions. A simple prioritization matrix keeps the conversation objective. A feature fails the test if it only makes the app look nicer.
Output: Filtered list of testable items.
4. Rank and Cut Scope (15 minutes)
Take the remaining capabilities and rank them. Rank them by how well they test the core value. Draw a hard line.
Everything above the line is the absolute minimum required to prove the hypothesis. Everything below the line gets cut. Consensus is not the goal here. The goal is validated learning. This is a core principle of testing product risk.
Output: The final minimum scope.
5. Define Evidence and Owners (10 minutes)
Every item you include needs an observable success or failure signal. Define the exact evidence needed to prove purchasing intent. Assign an owner to track the metric.
Capture your decisions on a minimum viable product canvas when the workshop ends. This gives the team a permanent record of the agreed scope. Good product discovery addresses the viability risk before full delivery.
Compile the results into a minimum viable product presentation. This aligns the rest of the company.
Output: Assigned metrics and owners.
Feature Prioritization Worksheet
Use this prompt list to challenge every feature during step 3.
Does this feature directly test our core hypothesis?
Can we deliver this outcome manually instead of writing code?
Will the user still experience the core value if we cut this?
Is this feature here because it is necessary, or just because it is easy to build?
FAQ
Who should attend the MVP exercise?
Keep the group small. You need the founders, a technical lead, and a product lead. You will debate instead of deciding if you have more than five people.
What happens when the team cannot agree on the core problem?
Stop the workshop. You cannot agree on the solution if you cannot agree on the problem. Go back and talk to your customers until the most painful problem is obvious.
How does this exercise differ from an MVP canvas?
The exercise is the active discussion and debate. The canvas is the document where you record the decisions. You do the exercise to fill out the canvas.
Does this exercise work before customer discovery?
No. You need evidence of a painful problem before you can decide how to solve it. Talk to customers first.
Why spend 60 minutes planning when AI builds instantly?
AI makes it faster to build something nobody needs. Testing the core value manually must come first. Use the 60 minutes to identify the most painful customer problem. Cut cheap distractions.
