In the context of product design, the minimum viable product (MVP) is the version of a product that achieves maximum customer feedback with minimal effort. By extension, it also refers to the strategy used to manufacture, test and market this product. The interest of the minimum viable product is to assess the viability of a new business model.
Low-fidelity minimum viable products are easy to develop and give the basic idea to understand the need of the potential customers. The fake door MVP helps to measure interest in a product or a new feature without real implementation.
For example, we can add a button on this webpage attracting to a new Premium subscription plan which will lead to
a landing page that offers access to a feature the interested reader wants to test. The landing page will collect the required information and a call to action button, clicking it will lead to a webpage with a message that this feature is under construction and the reader will be notified later.
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Pros and Cons of The Fake Door MVP
A well-designed fake door MVP can generate a good amount of traffic, it can test the demand for the product or feature and can build a user base. It is a good way to test the pricing model.
However, the fake door MVP can be expensive to build with no real-life usability test. Without offering a beta version (in the case of software), the users can find a product from a competitor brand as an alternative solution. It has the potential to damage a brand and its credibility.
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When to Use The Fake Door MVP
When we already have a customer or reader base, The Fake Door MVP can be a suitable tool to determine if the new planned features interest the existing customers.
However, the fake door MVP should be more than just a landing page. The visitor/customer should be the immediate feel of getting rewarded for the action, which can be done by offering a demo video or a beta version of the application.
It is one of the low-fidelity types of minimum viable products, it is suitable when the product or feature is not of higher value and the time to market will be lower.
