Validate with Real Users: The Key to Building an MVP That Works

• January 27, 2025
• Jesandy
• no comments

Last Christmas, a friend gave me a Real Madrid jersey, to be precise, a Vinicius Júnior jersey. While I appreciate the gesture, it missed the mark entirely. Here’s why: I’m a die-hard Barça fan. Yes, I also love the Brazilian team, but giving me a Real Madrid jersey, the nemesis of my favorite club. Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) without validate with real users is much the same. You might think you’re creating something people want, but assumptions often lead to missteps. My friend assumed I’d love it without asking, and the result was a thoughtful but misplaced gift.

Validating with real users ensures your product solves actual problems and aligns with their needs. In this post, we’ll explore why this step is crucial and how to do it effectively.

Before You Continue: #1 Start Small and Solve One Problem

Why Validate with Real Users is Crucial

Assumptions can be costly. Imagine pouring months of effort and resources into building an MVP, only to find out it doesn’t resonate with your target audience. Validation helps you avoid this trap by uncovering the truth about what users need, want, and value.

Engaging real users early allows you to align your MVP with real-world problems rather than hypothetical ones. It’s not about seeking validation for your ego; it’s about learning and adapting. When you validate with real users, you gain insights into their pain points, preferences, and behaviors—insights that can shape your product into something truly valuable. Validation also accelerates the iterative process, allowing you to make informed decisions and refine your MVP based on actionable feedback.

Steps to Validate Your MVP with Real Users

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

Start by defining who your ideal users are. These are the people who will benefit most from your product. Use tools like customer personas or demographic research to pinpoint their characteristics, needs, and challenges.

Step 2: Engage Users Early

Don’t wait for perfection. Begin testing your MVP with a small group of users as soon as possible. You can find early adopters through social media, forums, or beta testing platforms. The goal is to gather initial feedback before scaling.

Step 3: Gather Actionable Feedback

Use methods like surveys, interviews, usability testing, or heatmaps to collect feedback. Focus on understanding user needs, identifying pain points, and observing how they interact with your product. Ask open-ended questions to encourage honest responses.

Step 4: Test Your Hypotheses

Every MVP is built on assumptions. Validate these assumptions by testing them directly with users. For example, if you assume users will value a specific feature, observe whether they actually use it or find it helpful.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

One of the biggest mistakes is ignoring feedback that doesn’t align with your assumptions. Confirmation bias—the tendency to focus only on feedback that supports your ideas—can lead to blind spots and missed opportunities.

Another pitfall is relying on feedback from the wrong audience. If your testers don’t represent your target users, their insights may mislead you. Finally, delaying validation can be disastrous. Waiting too long to engage real users often results in wasted effort on features or designs that don’t resonate.

Real-World Example: Small-Scale User Validation

Take the story of a local bakery testing a new menu item. Instead of launching the product across all their outlets, they offered free samples at a single location. Customers provided feedback on taste, presentation, and pricing, which the bakery used to refine the recipe. This small-scale validation allowed them to perfect the product before a full rollout, saving time and resources.

Similarly, you don’t need a massive audience to validate your MVP. Start small, gather insights, and iterate based on real user feedback.

Validating with real users is the cornerstone of building an MVP that truly works. It ensures you’re solving the right problems and creating value for your audience. By engaging users early, collecting actionable feedback, and avoiding common pitfalls, you set your product up for success.

So, what’s the one assumption about your MVP you’ll test with real users this week? Take the leap, and don’t forget to tune in for the next mindset in this series: Embrace Imperfection.