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We have all encountered the drive at times to achieve a MVP – Minimum Viable Product. Its got to be done sometimes when there is little alternative. Too often the MVP becomes the final solution, we are stuck with solutions that address 70% of the low hanging fruit. Have you encountered that in your organisation or perhaps suffered it in others?
I understand that its sometimes harder to spot or realise this when on the inside. It can feel unusual where I come in as a third party at times and ask, “So why did you stop there”?
Stopping part-way in can happen if we change management or sometimes just get stuck in our ways. We might come to an understanding that “this is our offering”. A post by Paul Taylor on LinkedIn made me think about this a week or so ago. It was one about how self-service often works well, until it doesn’t. That is a bit like modern life at times.
This week I had an issue on Amazon, which eventually got a human response, although it took me best part of a day to locate a link to. In fairness Amazon have had over a decade or two to get a lot of this stuff right. They have way deeper pockets than everyone else too!
Its logical to tackle the low-hanging fruit. However, in a workshop last week including a board member (likely a tenant too), when talking about what to focus on, he clearly say, “Why aren’t we focussing on all this stuff – its all important to customers”. Both can be satisfied, however we just need to realise when we have stalled on the MVP and identify the next biggest piece of low-hanging fruit. Often after solving 75% we struggle to move on to the next 9%, then 5%, then 4%.
It always makes me smile when I hear of solutions sold as starting with an MVP. These are fine if we have a flexible attitude to risk, or even understand where risk can be possible. An MVP indicates we are building something that has perhaps not been done properly before. Not many clients understand that. That misunderstanding can also lead to problems moving that on to a more complete solution. Follow-on costs or new challenges may prevent further progression.
From a customer viewpoint, while the MVP may satisfy basic core processes, further sophistication can missing. Also often absent is the omnichannel response, as its been withdrawn due to expectations of the new solution. This is where frustration starts. No digital solution and little or poor alternative solutions, providing customers and end users with challenges.
Why do we not notice solutions needed beyond the MVP?
You know, it is often very evident if we look in other service areas, such as complaints. While our partnering contractor reports 97.3% KPI compliance to us, a monumental rise in repair complaint interactions may show us a very different metric. Increases in certain customer service interactions, point to failures elsewhere. Listening to other teams or workstreams is always very revealing and far cheaper its got to be said, to pay a consultant to take your watch from your wrist and tell you the time.
Particularly in the digital first realm, if we stop improving and we get stuck in the MVP, we ultimately fail.
Related Post: What makes good self-service, not MVP but great web self-service?
I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.
The Blow Monkeys - Forbidden Fruit.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009
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