[Anchor Proposal]: Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

[cpoepke]

Proposed Term

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Context (Optional)

The smallest product that allows a team to test a specific hypothesis about user needs with the least effort. Framed here as an inception-phase product risk reduction technique — not general product strategy. The defining output is validated learning, not feature completeness.

Category: System Inception Patterns (see #414)
(Note: MVP sits at the boundary of inception patterns and product strategy; included here for its role in reducing product risk at project start)

Why it qualifies:

• Precise: defined by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup with clear intent (hypothesis testing, validated learning)
• Rich: activates concepts around lean startup, build-measure-learn, pivot vs persevere, customer development
• Consistent: distinct from "minimal product" or "quick release" — specifically hypothesis-driven
• Attributable: Eric Ries (The Lean Startup, 2011); Steve Blank (customer development, precursor concept)

Distinguishes from:

• Walking Skeleton — product-demand validation vs technical architecture validation
• Thin Vertical Slice — product-level hypothesis test vs single feature delivery increment
• Spike Solution — product question vs technical question; user-facing vs internal experiment

Open question for reviewers: Should MVP be a dual-category entry (System Inception Patterns + Business/Product Strategy)?

References:

• Eric Ries — The Lean Startup: https://theleanstartup.com/
• Eric Ries — The Lean Startup (O'Reilly): https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-lean-startup/9781449310776/
• Steve Blank — The Four Steps to the Epiphany: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strategies/dp/1119690358
• Ash Maurya — Running Lean (3rd ed., O'Reilly): https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/running-lean-3rd/9781098108373/

Pre-submission Checklist

• I have searched existing anchors and this term is not already included
• This term refers to a well-established concept (not something I invented)

[raifdmueller]

Valid proposal. MVP (Ries, The Lean Startup) is canonical and, importantly, has a precise definition that's often misused in practice — "smallest product to test a hypothesis about user needs with validated learning as the output". That precision is exactly what makes it a good anchor: it pushes back against the common confusion with "small v1 release".

Accepting the anchor, placing it in strategic-planning instead of the proposed new "System Inception Patterns" category — see #414. You noted yourself in the open questions that MVP sits at the boundary of inception and product strategy; I think strategy is the cleaner home because the defining concern is hypothesis validation about user needs, not architectural or technical risk.

Will proceed with the PR.

[raifdmueller]

Merged via #425. MVP is now in the catalog under strategic-planning — thanks! (Ready to close.)