MVP Design in 4 Weeks [with a free User Research Repository Notion Kit]

You’re probably already aware that good design can give you an advantage when attracting early users and even raising funds. 

But many think great design has to cost a lot. This often can cause you to hire cheap designers with almost no experience whatsoever, which can greatly backfire.

An MVP is all about speed. This guide will show you how to design your MVP in just four weeks without breaking the bank. 

Also, keep reading to find out where to get access to a free User Research Repository Notion Kit and how to use it.

MVP product design - key considerations

Here’s one piece of advice from our founder and CEO - embrace speed over perfection. 

We know it's tempting to aim for perfection and include a multitude of features, thinking this will give you a competitive edge. However, the primary goal should be to get your product to market as quickly as possible to start gathering user feedback.

Key considerations:

• Aim to complete your MVP development in no more than 3 months.
• Keep your budget ideally between $20,000 and $100,000.
• Concentrate on a few core features that solve specific pain points.
• Market your product by highlighting why it's better than competitors and how it uniquely addresses user needs.

Week 1-2: Initiation & research phase

Before diving into MVP design, you need to understand both your users and the market itself. 

First, create detailed profiles of your potential customers. 

Think about who they are, what they do, and what they need. As the founder, we believe you should lead this task because it's crucial for shaping your product.

How design thinking really works in agencies:

First of all, it’s speed.

Pain identification - Solution Ideation - Prototype - Validation - Iterate

We accelerate all the stages for our clients.

1/4

— Pavel Tseluyko (@pashatseluyko) June 12, 2024

Next, brainstorm the problems your users face. 

Write down these issues and think about how your product can solve them. This way, you’ll more likely focus on the most important features for your first version.

Then, write a clear statement about your product. 

Explain what problem you're solving and why your solution is unique. This statement will guide you throughout the development process.

Competitor analysis

Now, this is something you can delegate to the agency and then just have it nicely documented afterward. Typically, the research would follow these few steps:

1. Start by looking at what your competitors are doing well and where they're falling short. 

This includes both direct competitors and those in related fields. By doing this, you'll spot gaps in the market that your product can fill.

1. Next, figure out how your competitors make money. 

Look at their pricing and see if there are ways you can create a sustainable business model that might work even better.

2. Then, study how your competitors attract and keep customers. 

Pay attention to their marketing messages and which channels they use most effectively. This will help you plan your own marketing strategy.

3. Finally, map out how users interact with your competitors' products. 

Note any pain points or areas where the experience could be better. While you could hire someone to do this, doing it yourself will give you valuable insights into your market.

Week 2-3: Wireframing & prototyping of your MVP design

This is usually where we, as a design agency, step in, so we know this process very well. 

Role prototyping

Start by creating simple sketches of the main parts of your product that users will interact with. Focus on showing how users will move through your product, not on making it look pretty.

Next, make detailed diagrams that show all the ways users can use your product. Include every possible path they might take and look for any spots where they might get stuck or confused.

Clickable prototypes

Prototyping is, by definition, a rough stage. But still required an understanding of all user touchpoints, obvious UX, and all covered system states of UI for success and fail cases.

Then, as a linked prototype (clickable mockups in Figma), it could be tested with real or… pic.twitter.com/J0CNl83DLg

— Pavel Tseluyko (@pashatseluyko) June 12, 2024

Then, use a tool like Figma to turn your sketches into clickable prototypes so you can test your ideas early and get feedback from users.

Keep things simple by focusing on the basic features your product needs. Don't worry about fancy design elements yet. This helps you avoid making things too complicated, which could slow down your work.

Use real-looking information in your prototypes. This will help everyone better understand how your product will actually work when it's finished.

Test with potential users

Don’t forget to also show your prototype to potential users and ask for feedback:

• What do they like and dislike? 
• What's confusing or unclear? 

Take notes and use the feedback to improve your product.

Week 3-4: High-fidelity UI MVP design

Transitioning from rough prototypes to high-fidelity designs is where you invest more time. However, you can save significant resources by leveraging open-source design systems. Check the recommendations in our CEO’s recent YouTube video.

He mentions tried-and-tested systems that offer pre-built, well-tested components that can save you a lot of time, help you design and develop faster, and keep your app's look consistent throughout.

UI development recommendations:

• When creating your detailed UI design, make sure to include every screen users will see. 
• Design each screen carefully, thinking about how users move between them. 
• Keep the look and feel consistent across your entire app.
• Try to remember the different situations that your users might face. 
• Design clear error messages and success notifications to guide users. 
• Plan for unusual cases to avoid frustrating your users.
• Use real information instead of fake text in your designs. This will give you a better idea of how your product will actually work. 

Important! Build complete, clickable prototypes for thorough testing. 

These should work as much as possible like the real product. To get the best feedback, let users try out full features and workflows.

Week 4+: User testing & iteration

Now, it’s come time to validate your designs. 

Conduct user interviews

To get useful feedback, talk to at least five people from each user group you want to target. This will give you enough information to spot trends without taking too much time.

Keep your interviews short - about 30 minutes each. This gives you plenty of time to get good feedback without asking too much of your participants. During these chats, try to get at least ten useful insights. Do this by asking open-ended questions and really listening to what people say.

Everyone who spoke to their users at least a couple of times knows how insightful it is.

You can easily grab 10+ insights from a 30min interview.

Be open-minded, and ask questions in the flow.

To be in focus, better to leave notetaking for later when you’ll be reviewing the… pic.twitter.com/tCGc1AKGte

— Pavel Tseluyko (@pashatseluyko) June 12, 2024

Use a user research template

It’s nice to have a template to organize your user research and take notes. You can identify patterns and themes in the feedback and think about how you can use it to improve your product.

Here’s our very practical and completely free User Research Repository Kit for this step. Use the Notion template to organize your findings.

Sourcing participants

Finding participants for your interviews doesn't have to be complicated:

1. Closed network:

• Reach out to friends and colleagues.
• Ask for referrals within your network.

2. Social media:

• Post invitations on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

3. LinkedIn outreach:

• As a last resort, search for relevant individuals and send direct messages.

Incentives. Offer a small gift to encourage participation - a $50 Amazon gift card, for example.

Analyze feedback

Look for patterns and themes in user feedback. What are the most common complaints or suggestions? Use this feedback to refine your design and make changes to your product. Think about how you can use the feedback to improve the user experience and meet your users' needs.

Refine your design

Use user feedback to refine your design and make changes to your product. What features do users want or need? What can you simplify or eliminate? Think about how you can use the feedback to improve your product and make it more user-friendly.

MVP design thinking conclusion

Creating an MVP in four weeks is a big task, but you can do it if you focus on what's important.

Here's how: put getting to market quickly ahead of being perfect, really listen to what users want, and use ready-made design tools.

Strive to build something great that people will actually want to use.

Our Merge team urges to to always think about your users, be ready to change things based on what you learn, and keep improving as you go.

Whenever you need any help with MVP design and/or development -  be sure we’re always there for you, ready to hop on a task.