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Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

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Re: Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

#21

Post by [deleted] »

xicara wrote: post #18
corry wrote: post #13

Key is to position the product evolution from this point as a journey, with discrete steps/periods on a quasi-roadmap, and make it clear to them that they as users/clients will help shape that journey. So picture a slide with 4 steps/phases enumerated, and a talk track like: "Today, we're at Phase 1 which provides the most important feature XYZ but has some constraints around diction; next, in Phase 2, the algorithms…

Many insightful comments here in this thread, thank you all very much. I'm really afraid we can't solve a "mediocre diction" problem. The problem is that speech to text still is a open subject where noise and diction could ruin many tools, but in the ideal world (no noise and good diction), accuracy is around 80-100%.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

#22

Post by magicalhippo »

lloydatkinson wrote: post #8

Like I said on another thread: Instead, every "MVP" project I've been on has ended up as the final shipped product. Often with no further improvements at all, let alone anything the user asked for. Big Agile really has poisoned the industry. Basically you need to be very careful. Like another comment said it could even be just mock-ups which are much easier to change.

In our case, I've found our customers just aren't very good at imagining things that aren't in the user interface or actions that aren't implemented.

After all they're not developers, so likely aren't used to imagining user interfaces and interactions.

Regardless, the result is that if what we show them ain't pretty close to how it'll look and work, they won't get it and will have a hard time understanding how it will affect their workflow.

So we end up having to implement a fair part of the solution just to get some feedback that we can iterate on.

Since we have several decades of combined domain expertise inhouse, we're typically pretty good at guessing what the customer needs or wants and usually don't have to change much.

Re: Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

#23

Post by xicara »

another-dave wrote: post #19
xicara wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many insightful comments here in this thread, thank you all very much. I'm really afraid we can't solve a "mediocre diction" problem. The problem is that speech to text still is a open subject where noise and diction could ruin many tools, but in the ideal world (no noise and good diction), accuracy is around 80-100%.

> in order to have accuracy and a fully satisfactory experience, it requires some conditions, because it deals with random variables that I still don't have full control over > I'm really afraid we can't solve a "mediocre diction" problem. So you're not asking "How can I present my work-in-progress to potential customers so that they focus on the potential & not the missing features?". Instead your asking "How can I…

Sorry, and yes you're right. So the question is: how to present a product that will always have some kind of limitation? It will solve a problem but under certain circumstances. But I think the answers here still apply.

Re: Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

#25

Post by m_mueller »

xicara wrote: post #23
another-dave wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in order to have accuracy and a fully satisfactory experience, it requires some conditions, because it deals with random variables that I still don't have full control over > I'm really afraid we can't solve a "mediocre diction" problem. So you're not asking "How can I present my work-in-progress to potential customers so that they focus on the potential & not the missing features?". Instead your asking "How can I…

Sorry, and yes you're right. So the question is: how to present a product that will always have some kind of limitation? It will solve a problem but under certain circumstances. But I think the answers here still apply.

Be fully honest. At least with me, it adds points if a supplier communicates limitations well, even without me asking for it. Being promised the end to all problems raises my skepticism 10fold.

Re: Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

#26

Post by skykooler »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #20

That's traditionally called a "demo." The time-honored way to do demos, is to show a lashed-up, duct-tape-and-baling-wire abomination, in a carefully controlled setting. I have seen companies plant shills in the audience, to generate those "random questions." The best was when I attended the "Longhorn" demo, at Microsoft (Longhorn became Vista). The marketing person gave this great demo of all the eye-candy UI, and k…

> Vista turned out great!

That's debatable.

Re: Ask HN: How to show a not “so perfect” MVP to potential customers?

#30

Post by bilekas »

skykooler wrote: post #26
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #20

That's traditionally called a "demo." The time-honored way to do demos, is to show a lashed-up, duct-tape-and-baling-wire abomination, in a carefully controlled setting. I have seen companies plant shills in the audience, to generate those "random questions." The best was when I attended the "Longhorn" demo, at Microsoft (Longhorn became Vista). The marketing person gave this great demo of all the eye-candy UI, and k…

> Vista turned out great! That's debatable.

It was at least a step up cosmetically!
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