Lean Startup
A process for creating products and businesses under high uncertainty through build–measure–learn cycles, starting with a minimum viable product.
What it’s for
It keeps you from spending months building something nobody wants without checking first.
Phases
State the hypothesis
What you think will happen and how you will know.
Build the minimum viable product
The smallest version that lets you learn from real customers.
Measure and decide
With data, not assumptions: pivot or persevere.
How it’s done
Build the minimum needed to test a hypothesis.
Measure how people respond.
Learn and decide the next cycle.
Applications in design
When to use it
To launch a new service or product when you don't know whether anyone wants it.
Avoid
Calling something half-finished a “minimum viable product” when it lets you learn nothing.
Don’t fall for it
Measure what answers your hypothesis, not what's easy to count.
Connections
Authors and works
- 2011
Eric Ries
He described the build–measure–learn loop and the minimum viable product for new companies.
Sources
Original sources
- Ries, E. (2011). The lean startup: How today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. Crown Business.
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