While MVPs only emphasize viability, probably because this is often the most overlooked aspect when designing products, the right solution needs to simultaneously balance desirability, viability, and feasibility in order to cause a switch.
MDVFP is quite a mouthful but a more helpful way of thinking about your solution.
The right solution is one that causes a switch by simultaneously addressing desirability, viability, and feasibility.
In order to grab attention and cause a switch, your unique value proposition needs to be different in a way that matters to your customers.
If you’re only incrementally better, it will be hard to cause a switch because the incumbent generally wins. You need to be 3x-10x better (don't just think about the merits of the product itself, sometimes there is a story or perception that makes people spend more or less for what you are selling). Here’s how to design for that:
What are your axes of better?
If you were to draw a two by two matrix mapping you against the alternatives, what would the x and y axes by e.g. speed vs quality.
This isn’t an exhaustive list but should give you a starting point for your X and Y axes:
Go to extremes
When looking for your axes for better, it’s tempting to pick what’s popular. But what’s popular is typically also crowded. You want to go for the edges.
Align with your purpose
Don’t treat these axes simply as a positioning exercise that you do once and then forget about it. The right axes should also align with your values and purpose. They should guide everything you do. That’s how you build ongoing differentiation that compounds over time.
Don't guess
Don’t make this stuff up. The axes for better should come from your customer discovery interviews. They should be things your customers deeply care about. Their desired outcomes and tradeoffs with current alternatives are generally good places to uncover these.
Finding a problem worth solving is the first step towards addressing viability, setting pricing for your solution is the next.
The fair price for your solution lives somewhere in between the price of existing alternatives and the monetary value of your unique value proposition.
Given enough time, money, and effort we can build almost anything today. The challenge, of course, is that we never have enough of any of those. Yet, we have to build something remarkable anyway.
Time is our scarcest resource.
This leads us to the next propelling question: How do I build an MVP in 2 months or less?