Minimum Viable Experience (MVE) refers to how a customer feels when they interact with a brand’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Its goal is to encourage customers to re-engage with — and become advocates for — the product or service.
The term MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, is thrown around a lot in product development. It refers to a product built, and launched, with only core functionality (and none of the added flare or nice-to-haves).
And while an MVP is a great tool for testing the practical value of a product, good or service, it leaves a big piece of the puzzle unaccounted for: the customer experience.
A product’s experiential value is more important than ever, and a solid MVE ensures that this is catered for at launch.
Unlike an MVP, the success criteria for an MVE is not about what a customer does or achieves with a product, but rather how it makes them feel. It is concerned with concepts such as delight and surprise — both value-add factors which increase happiness, encourage retention and help build brands.
MVE is an important yardstick for new digital brands and startups.
While a successful MVP is always a great boost for such companies, without an equally impressive MVE, there’s still plenty of room to grow. As the world of product development becomes ever more customer-centric, the MVE will likewise become a more important metric by which to judge new offers.