Minimum Viable Product vs. Minimum Lovable Product

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is cat food. Or at least that is how I described it when I first wrote about what I considered the Minimum Lovable Product (MLP) to be in 2013. My analogy posited that although a human could eat a can of cat food if they really had to, it is unlikely they will be clamoring for a second serving. I thought this was a pretty striking — if nauseating — analogy for product builders. The bare minimum is rarely the right solution for your customers’ needs.