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What belongs in a first version of the software?

An MVP is a first version with only the paths that matter. It should be enough to test with real users, and small enough that you have not already over-built.

A first version is not a smaller copy of the final product. It is the smallest set of paths that lets someone finish a real task, so you can see whether the product is worth extending.

If everything is in the MVP, it is not an MVP. If nothing a user can complete is in it, it is only a prototype of the interface.

Name the paths that matter

Write down the jobs that must work on day one. For operations software that is often one loop: create the record, move it, see the result. Everything else is a later version, including the reports that feel urgent in a workshop.

Leave room to learn

The point of an MVP is to test the product with real users before you over-build. That only works if the first release can change without throwing the whole system away.

Keep the data honest, keep the interface readable, and postpone the features that exist to impress a slide rather than to finish the work.

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