A minimum viable product (MVP) is like a high fidelity prototype that you can show to investors and potential customers/clients.  It has to be functional to the point that it conveys your ideas and proves that you are capable of doing what you say will do.  Depending on what direction and media types your team has chosen, these MVPS will vary widely from group to group.

  • Expression: Make it.
  • Literature: Write it.
  • 2D Image: Make it.
  • Audio: Make it / find it.
  • Moving image: Make it / find it.
  • Social: Create necessary accounts, event schedules, invitations, etc.
  • Broadcast: Make the content, prototype the distribution.
  • Interactive: Prototype with Axure / Adobe XD & Photoshop.
  • Performance: Script/choreograph/storyboard it (in detail).

So if a zine is part of your solution, make issue 1 of the zine.  If a website is part of your solution (and you have a web designer on your team) make the site, if not use Axure / Adobe XD to prototype it.  If part of your solution is an app, prototype it with a combination of Photoshop, Adobe XD, PowerPoint, and/or Axure.

There should be no placeholder content (images, videos, or text) at this stage.  The primary goal of the MVP is to demonstrate the look and feel of your solution, so visuals and aesthetics count.  The secondary goal is to demonstrate functionality.  If you get to a point where you don’t know how to do something (php scripting, app deployment, videography, etc) do two things.  First, make a note that you will need to add a line to your budget (future assignment) for hiring a person who can do that task.  Second, make an image to show in as much detail as possible what that area of content would look like if it were functioning the way you want it to, and include the image in the MVP.

You should bring your MVP to UCF Celebrates the Arts to compliment your poster.  But note that space is limited, so MVPs should not take up more space than an average lap top computer.  If your MVP is digital, you’ll need to provide your own computer and display.

For this assignment, make a 2-5 minute video demonstrating your MVP.  Use audio narrations.  Your video should also explain your research question and target audience.  You may screen capture or a video camera for this.  If you use a camera also use a tripod and good lighting.  Only use vertical orientation if your MVP is a vertical mobile app.  Do not include your names in the video, do include your team number.  Post the video to your site and submit the link here.

Up to speed training:

  • The skills you’ll need as a team to create this prototypes will vary widely from project to project.  But here are some resources to bolster your weak spots.
  • Web design:  You may have some experience in Web Design already from making your team sites.  If you are using web as part of your MVP you’ll likely want to create a separate site for it.  Wix is a crowd favorite for ease of use, but does not allow for much interactivity – you’ll need to proxy those aspects with images/videos.  Here’s a quick tutorial on Wix.
  • Web/App design:  You might loose too many features in Wix for your site or app for the prototype to be useful.  Enter Adobe XD or Axure, though you’ll need some photoshop / illustrator proficiency either way.
    • Adobe XD is fast becoming a go to application for UI design because of its integration with the rest of Adobe CC.  It is available in the Tech Commons 2 lab. Here’s a tutorial for making a website  or app . And, just over spring break they released their essential training for design and prototyping. And the best part is it’s only 2.5 hours total for both courses.
    • Axure is professional strength industry software.  There’s a learning curve that is probably only worth while if you have a strong interest in User Interface Design.  Good news is that it is free for students.
    • And yes, it’s true, you can even do similar things with PowerPoint.  Here’s a video tutorial site. – jump to minute 30 if you just want to see how to do the hyperlinks.  Unfortunately I have not been able to find a good free UI template toolkit for PowerPoint (if you find one let me know), so you’ll need to make your own graphics.  I believe Adobe/Axure come with these UI element libraries built in.
  • Video/Moving Image: My quick and dirty guide to making a video in Premiere Pro.
  • 2D Image:  Photoshop / Illustrator
  • Audio:  Audacity  is free, multi platform, and good.