Have You Chosen the Right Tech Stack For Your MVP?

For businesses who think that developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is just another experiment, they are utterly mistaken. The modern-day business environment is very cut-throat and companies can’t afford to get complacent at any stage. Moreover, the innovation and expansion in the present-day business world are very rapid. Therefore, it becomes inevitable for business organizations to choose the right tech stack for their MVP.

Business organizations should understand that they cannot go wrong in developing an MVP. The prime objective of a minimum viable product is to test the hypothesis about the market needs and validate the premise of a product. In addition, it helps in making a roadmap of the future development of the product. Thus, if businesses pick the wrong tech stack for MVP, their product could die a premature death.

Thus, in this article, we will understand the factors that will help in choosing the right tech stack for MVP.

Let us begin!

Importance of an MVP

MVP is designed to measure the response and behavior of the target audience by the business organization. The term MVP was first coined by Frank Robinson in 2001. He stated that MVP is a product that is big enough to cause sales and satisfaction but not big enough to be risky.

The customer feedback that businesses get on their MVP is then used in building the final product. This is done to reduce the chances of failure of the final product and save development costs and time.

Moreover, the concept of ‘minimum’ is what makes MVP different from the traditional custom development. This is because minimum not only refers to the scope of development but also to the cost, development time of the project.

Now, to choose the right tech stack for MVP, you need to keep the business aspect of your project and the technical requirements. This will include:

Custom Design

If fancy animations, UI kit, and custom illustrations are the USPs of your project, they are necessary for an MVP. Moreover, if not, you can use a default theme in MVP and focus more on the essence of the product.

Platforms

An MVP often begins like a single platform project concentrated either on web or mobile versions. So, if you are aiming for a mobile application, you can opt for Flutter, Swift, React Native, etc. The final choice of the technology will ultimately depend on the minimum features you wish to include in the MVP. Make sure that despite being minimum, the features should be valuable for the end-users.

Factors that impact the selection of tech stack for an MVP

Now as technology is expanding at the rate of knots, there cannot be one factor to determine the tech stack for MVP. There are several other things like cost, the talent available, community support, etc. that will impact the selection. Moreover, the selection also depends on the type of design, access to technology, etc.

Here, we’ll have a look at the important factors that impact the selection of the right tech stack for MVP.

Scope and goal of the project

Despite MVP being a smaller version of the overall product, businesses must have a clear idea about the product’s objective. Because, if the goal of the project is not specified, developing an MVP is of no use.

A clear roadmap will ease the selection process and will make sure that the objectives of building the MVP are achieved. Moreover, it will also allow the developers to include the right features in the MVP by using the right technology. With a clear thought process, focusing on all the important aspects becomes easier.

Also Read: How To Choose A Tech Stack For SaaS Development

Talent pool and community support

As a product owner, it is important that you look at the stack choice for the MVP from different perspectives. Be it a technical or a non-technical aspect, as a product owner you must have all bases covered. This is because framework trends change rapidly and it leaves a void that is tough to fill.

Thus, while selecting the technology, make sure that it has a wider talent pool and community support. For example, hiring a new Java or Python developer is easier than Scala and Go. As these technologies have great community support, the entire development process of the MVP will become smooth. Greater community support also means that the technology is well-documented, making it easier for developers to find the right solution.

Maintenance and Scalability

It is essential for the MVP to handle the load one the app if the number goes up. Thus, in order to choose the right tech stack for MVP, make sure that it makes the app scalable. Select a tech stack according to the future growth of the app and not the present outlook. Because this perspective will prevent a future product collapse and will increase its longevity in the market as well.

Businesses should understand that all tech stacks have different scalability potentials. For example, MEAN Stack (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, and Node.js) have amazing scalability.

Now, as far as maintenance of the MVP is concerned, it is a very important factor. Thus to choose the right tech stack for MVP, make sure that it is an open-source technology. Open-source technologies will allow you to maintain your app for the long term as solutions are more readily available. Also, business organizations should refrain from using niche technology for MVP development as it could be very expensive. In addition, it complicates the entire system and it will be difficult to monitor and maintain the MVP.

Time to market

There is no doubt about the fact that the new-age tech industry is fast-paced. Thus, it is important to get the product out in the market before your competitor does. Therefore, choose the frameworks and technology that are fast, efficient, and also maintain the quality. In the case of mobile app development, the right tech stack for MVP can be cross-platform technologies like React Native, Flutter, etc.

The cross-platform app development frameworks are cheap and render the same look and feel like native apps. In addition, they are fast as the developers can use the same code for both iOS and Android.

Cost of development

Money has and will always be a crucial factor in deciding the right tech stack for MVP. Businesses should understand that not all frameworks or technologies are available at the same price. Thus, while selecting the tech stack, keep your overall budget in mind. Because your majority expense is giving the developers’ salaries and their charge will depend on their expertise in the language.

Thus, the best way to choose the right tech stack for MVP is to select a mature language that is likely to remain popular. Moreover, if the framework is open-source, the developers will spend time adapting to the technology.

Size and complexity of the app

The type of web or mobile app is also crucial for selecting the technology for MVP. For example, for web apps, the tech stack depends on the type of content and data you need to manage. While for mobile apps, along with the size, complexity also becomes a major factor. For instance, a complex mobile application would need access to GPS or a phone camera.

Thus, it is important to understand the level of complexity you wish to include in your MVP. In addition, it is also vital to understand whether you are going to build the MVP for mobile or web.

Rich ecosystem

While selecting the right tech stack for your MVP, make sure that the technology has a rich ecosystem of tools. A rich ecosystem will ensure that the developers can build features and enhance the user experience of the MVP.

Moreover, since you have access to a myriad of tools, you can include all the required things in the MVP. Doing so will not only save time but will also enhance the workability of the MVP.

Security

Data security is perhaps the most important thing that can make or break your app. Thus, if your MVP collects data, you must design your app architecture around security. Use robust frameworks, secured databases with defined user roles to build an MVP that has high levels of security.

Thus, if data security is one of your major criteria of selecting the right tech stack for MVP, you should:

• Use technologies that follow Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
• Use technologies that are stable
• Ex: PHP, Go, Java

Also Read: How To Choose A Technology Stack For Web Application Development

Technologies that will empower your MVP

Selecting the right tech stack for MVP is no child’s play. The entire process is quite challenging and requires a lot of precision. Thus, for your benefit, we have curated a list of top tech stacks for your MVP:

Python/Django

Python has dynamic typing just like Ruby on Rails and is an interpreted language. Although the language is a little slow on runtime performance, it can be used for small and large applications.

The Python domain is the best known general-purpose language to build apps in the periphery of AI and ML. It is also a powerful tool for implementing machine learning (ML) algorithms, image recognition software, etc. Moreover, the amalgamation of Python and Django is the reason behind the success of apps such as Instagram and Bitbucket.

Now for Startups, building their MVPs with Python is a great option. Moreover, if your app is based on Machine Learning Algorithms, Python is the right tech stack for your MVP.

Node.js/Meteor

Node.js is based on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine and is a powerful framework to build real-time web apps. The apps developed with Node.js are scalable and ensure high performance.

Node.js is the right tech stack for MVP if you are aiming to build real-time applications. It could be online games, live chats, messaging apps, etc. Moreover, Meteor is an open-source full-stack framework used for rapid prototyping.

For startups, Node.js can be a boon as it is known for its out-of-the-box solutions. It has a rich JavaScript stack that minimizes the number of codes for the developers. Moreover, it allows the developers to build cross-platform apps as well.

PHP/Laravel

If we say that PHP is a leading programming language to develop MVP, it will not be an overstatement. It has multiple frameworks that make PHP the right tech stack for MVP.

The language is a dynamically typed general-purpose programming language. It is best suited for web applications that can be easily embedded in HTML. PHP is the most preferred choice if you are developing versatile website applications. It can be anything right from small landing pages to giant social media apps like Facebook, PHP has answers to everything.

On the other hand, Laravel is an open-source framework that is built using Symphony 2. The main purpose of Laravel is to extend the already existing functionalities of PHP. This plays a huge role in increasing the speed of application development.

Thus, if your aim is to build fully operational web apps and APIs, PHP is the right tech stack for your MVP. Moreover, it is a suitable technology if you want to resolve the problem of hiring developers for your project.

Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is a very popular framework for technology startups. This is because the technology is aptly suited for building MVPs and it has an object-oriented nature.

Ruby on Rails is a general-purpose programming language that has a developer-friendly syntax to simplify the coding process. The framework is famous as Ruby in Ruby on Rails is known to deliver secured and functional web apps faster. This is the reason why many industry leaders are using Ruby on Rails for their website development. Some of the prominent examples are Shopify, Airbnb, GitHub, etc.

Also, Ruby gems are as comfortable with other Ruby frameworks as they are with Ruby on Rails. Thus, the developers can use the same Ruby gems to build an MVP. Thus, if you are building a secured web application in a short period, Ruby on Rails is the best choice.

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Conclusion

Selecting the right tech stack for MVP is important as it is vital in determining the future of the product. Because the tech stack is right, the MVP will be able to achieve its goal. On the other hand, if you don’t put enough thought into selecting the MVP, the results could be hazardous. The business could suffer great financial losses and lose its reputation as well.

Thus, in order to achieve high performance, smooth scalability from the MVP, choose the right technology stack.

Krunal Shah

Krunal Shah is the CTO and Co-founder at Third Rock Techkno. With extensive experience gained over a decade, Krunal helps his clients build software solutions that stand out in the industry and are lighter on the pocket.

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