Although I have argued it to be an unrealistic depiction, I realise that I once may have gone through the exact process of creating an MVP as a sequence of fundamentally different products, as illustrated below.
Once, I started with a sled and ended up with a car. I was about 6 years old, it was winter and my mom’s groceries arrived in a crate. As we did not have a sled, I figured I build one; two wooden planks nailed to the sides of the crate, et voila. Ready to go. I discovered it was not that simple; wood does not slide well on snow. My neighbour suggested a solution that to a six year old made complete sense; poor water on the edges of the planks, let it freeze overnight and you’ll have a smooth slippery surface, right? It was not that smooth and although maybe slippery, it was extremely fragile. I must have tried a few times until either winter or myself gave up. Coming spring, I still had this crate with planks mounted to the side, the need to build and play, but no snow. My sister’s stroller, a metal saw a bit of time later and metal sawing metal creating skin burning heat wiser, the sled turned into a car. Fun continued.
So you could argue I went through the process of creating fundamentally different products, even at the time to it seemed like small incremental improvements.
myself, together with two of my sisters
What followed was years of fun an play. My father came up with a simple solution to have the front wheels turning, and I think I went through a life-time of car owner-ship in only a few years, going from a small one-seater to a pick-up extended into a camper sort of car and eventually ending up with a simple flat roadster.
What I remember was the fun of building and creating. Also, that due to the lack of engine I always needed a volunteer to – at least half of the time – function as engine and push. So I would enjoy the constructing part, and then take my bike and go out and play.