CPI Rapid Prototyping & MVP Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What distinguishes a 'Concierge MVP' from a 'Wizard of Oz MVP'?
- Concierge MVPs use automation; Wizard of Oz relies on humans
- In a Concierge MVP customers know humans are doing the work; in Wizard of Oz they believe it is automated (Correct answer)
- Concierge MVPs target B2B; Wizard of Oz targets B2C only
- They are interchangeable terms for the same technique
Correct answer: In a Concierge MVP customers know humans are doing the work; in Wizard of Oz they believe it is automated
In a Concierge MVP, the manual process is transparent to customers, while in a Wizard of Oz MVP, customers believe the service is automated.
Question 2: Which principle guides decisions about what to EXCLUDE from an MVP?
- Include every feature competitors have
- Keep only the features that directly test the core value hypothesis (Correct answer)
- Exclude features only if engineers can't build them
- Exclude features the CEO does not personally like
Correct answer: Keep only the features that directly test the core value hypothesis
An MVP should contain the minimum set of features needed to test the primary assumption about customer value, excluding everything else.
Question 3: Rapid prototyping is BEST described as an iterative process because:
- Each iteration produces a legally binding deliverable
- Feedback from each prototype cycle informs and refines the next version (Correct answer)
- Prototypes must be rebuilt from scratch after every user session
- Iterations are required by the PMI innovation framework
Correct answer: Feedback from each prototype cycle informs and refines the next version
Each round of prototyping and testing generates insights that are incorporated into the next iteration, continuously improving the solution.
Question 4: When running a five-day Design Sprint, which day is dedicated to user testing?
- Day 1
- Day 3
- Day 4
- Day 5 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Day 5
In Jake Knapp's Design Sprint framework, Day 5 is Testing day, where a realistic prototype is shown to five target customers.
Question 5: What does 'technical debt' accumulate during rapid MVP development refer to?
- Financial loans taken out to fund the prototype
- Shortcuts and suboptimal code choices made to ship quickly that must be addressed later (Correct answer)
- Features promised to customers but not yet built
- Server costs accrued during load testing
Correct answer: Shortcuts and suboptimal code choices made to ship quickly that must be addressed later
Technical debt is the implied cost of future rework resulting from choosing a fast but imperfect solution over a cleaner, longer-term approach.
Question 6: Which activity best exemplifies 'guerrilla user research' in rapid prototyping?
- Hiring a market research firm for a six-month study
- Approaching strangers in a coffee shop to test a paper prototype for 10 minutes (Correct answer)
- Sending a survey to a 10,000-person email list
- Running a formal usability lab with eye-tracking equipment
Correct answer: Approaching strangers in a coffee shop to test a paper prototype for 10 minutes
Guerrilla research involves quick, informal testing with available participants in public settings to gain fast, low-cost user feedback.
Question 7: An innovation team discovers during MVP testing that customers love an unexpected secondary feature more than the core one. The recommended next step is:
- Ignore the finding and continue with the original roadmap
- Consider a pivot that repositions the unexpected feature as the core value proposition (Correct answer)
- Remove the secondary feature to simplify the product
- Request additional budget to rebuild the MVP from scratch
Correct answer: Consider a pivot that repositions the unexpected feature as the core value proposition
This classic pivot scenario (e.g., YouTube's pivot from dating to video sharing) means the data is revealing a stronger market opportunity worth pursuing.
CPI Rapid Prototyping & MVP Development 3
What distinguishes a 'Concierge MVP' from a 'Wizard of Oz MVP'?