PMP Practice Questions #128
You are managing a project where stakeholders are exploring a new idea: selling cakes online, a concept that has not been tried in your local area. The goal is to develop a complete solution that facilitates online purchasing. As the project manager, you have recommended developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test the market. Which of the following options represents the best approach for an MVP?
A. Construct a comprehensive website with features including cake customization, automated order confirmations, and real-time tracking to fully satisfy customer needs online.
B. Build a detailed website that covers the entire customer journey for a typical persona, including browsing, ordering, payment, and feedback, ensuring all needs of a typical persona are well addressed.
C. Develop a basic website showcasing a select assortment of cakes, with orders being placed via email and payments made on delivery. Track customer interest and orders effectively.
D. Create a simplified prototype with basic functionalities that can be demonstrated internally, focusing on core aspects such as product listing and order placement, without involving real customer interaction or payment integration.
Analysis
The question revolves around the concept of creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a new online cake selling business in a market unaccustomed to this service. The aim is to develop a solution that allows testing the market with the least amount of effort and investment, ensuring that the core idea is viable before expanding or fully investing in the project. Understanding what constitutes an MVP—something that is often misunderstood or conflated with a fully featured product—is key to selecting the best option.
Analysis of Options
Option A: Construct a comprehensive website with features including cake customization, automated order confirmations, and real-time tracking to fully satisfy customer needs online. . This approach significantly exceeds the minimal criteria for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). By aiming to fully satisfy customer needs from the outset, it requires a substantial initial investment in both development time and resources. This directly contradicts the concept of an MVP, which is to start with the most basic version of a product to test and understand the market’s response before making significant commitments.
Option B: Build a detailed website that covers the entire customer journey for a typical persona, including browsing, ordering, payment, and feedback, ensuring all needs of a typical persona are well addressed. Building a detailed website that covers the entire customer journey for a typical persona, while more focused than Option A, still suggests a level of detail and comprehensiveness beyond what is necessary for an MVP. It risks delaying market testing and increasing upfront costs without first validating the core concept.
Option C: Develop a basic website showcasing a select assortment of cakes, with orders being placed via email and payments made on delivery. Track customer interest and orders effectively. Developing a basic website showcasing a select assortment of cakes, with simplified ordering and payment processes, aligns well with the MVP approach. It focuses on core functionalities that directly test the market’s interest in the concept with minimal development effort and cost.
Option D: Create a simplified prototype with basic functionalities that can be demonstrated internally, focusing on core aspects such as product listing and order placement, without involving real customer interaction or payment integration. Creating a simplified prototype for internal demonstration focuses on core aspects such as product listing and order placement but fails to test the market directly, which is a fundamental goal of an MVP. This approach might delay obtaining valuable customer feedback and market validation.
Conclusion: Option C is identified as the best approach for developing an MVP in this scenario. It proposes a basic yet functional solution to test the concept with real customers, ensuring direct feedback on the market’s interest in buying cakes online. This option adheres to the MVP’s primary objective: to learn about customer needs and market viability with the least effort, time, and investment. It stands out as the most pragmatic and effective strategy to validate the new idea before committing to more extensive development and investment.
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
Topics Covered
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
