Building a minimum viable product (MVP) is not as hard as it may seem at first. There is no need for any level of experience in UI/UX, design, or coding to create a nice MVP. You’ve probably heard before that you need to spend a lot of money on various elements like the team, marketing, quality, etc.
That’s quite true. The higher the desired product quality, the higher the price you’ll be paying. But, how to create a decent prototype or product with limited resources? Easy, some tools will help you achieve that with minimal costs, from devices that will help you build a prototype to the ones that will help you create a landing page.
The Internet is such a magical place when you know where to look for the correct answers. So without further ado, let us show you the ones that we think will be beneficial for your new MCP.
1. Balsamiq
The first tool of this list is Balsamiq. It’s an excellent choice for people that work in a team environment as it aids your team in collaborative prototype creation. The focus of this tool is to keep your eye on the structure of your future product, and it allows you to outline the interface for desktop, mobile apps, and the web. So all types of devices are covered in one sketch.
It has all the right tools to help you make the prototypes you want. One of them being a pre-built drag and drop feature. This will help you make simple mockups, edits, and designs with an easy duplicate option to spare you the time of creating again and again.
The only downside is that it does not have some advanced options as well as UI elements in its storage. The prototypes may look a bit unprofessional and not on an expert level. But it is an overall great tool to show what your prototype can look like without spending a lot of cash, which is an excellent stepping stone for getting the team on board.
2. Webflow
Webflow is our second tool on this MVP list. This is a tool that will help you create well-informed but straightforward website prototypes. After the initial step of prototype creation, with the help of this tool, you’ll be only one click away from creating the final product as well.
One thing that will blow your mind is that you do not need to code, not a single line, but you can still create pretty much whatever you want. That’s because Webflow automatically makes CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. With this feature, collaboration becomes super simple, and your entire team can be on the same page with the click of a mouse.
Webflow also sports a wide array of other features that allow you to create animation, interaction, and even websites. And while it may seem a bit difficult to use in the beginning, once you get the hang of it, it works like a charm.
3. Thunkable
The third spot goes to Thunkable. Every business needs a mobile app, and with Thunkable, you can create one. This tool is best suited for those with little to no development experience, as it allows the user to create native mobile apps without any coding skills whatsoever.
The editor is one of the simplest on the market, simply drag-and-drop the desired elements where you want them and connect them with blocks. It’s that easy. If you want to make your job even easier, you can simply edit one of the existing template projects and work from there – no need to start from scratch if you don’t want to.
So if you need an app quickly, then a pre-built project from the library, edit it a bit, and voila. Plus, every project is pre-optimized to work on both Android and iOs, so there’s no need to worry about usability. Thunkable also has some stunning animations and transitions that you can use to make your app extra spicy.
4. Instapage
Instapage is a tool that will help you create an excellent landing page for your product. A landing page is crucial to every business, especially when launching a new product. It can give you important insight, such as a click rate and the overall interest in what you’re offering. As important as it may be, it is a huge asset to your business, as it requires minimal investment.
This tool is easy to use, even if you have little to no experience in the field. Not to mention that the free trial alone provides you with the option of creating the landing page of your dreams.
The editor features a ton of ready-made templates that can be quickly edited via the drag-and-drop builder. Just fix up a template, brand it however you want, and it’ll fit your niche in no time at all. The best part is that you can do it yourself with no experience without involving developers that will just cost you a ton of money.
In addition, Instapage offers a wide range of integration options with tools beneficial to your campaign. And we all know how important it is to see the analytics behind every single thing. That’s how we understand how our business is performing. As if all of this wasn’t enough, Instapage also promises that every page created will be fully mobile-responsive.
5. Mockplus
Mockplus is a tool that can create a high-fidelity prototype faster and better. It has everything your product teams need from ideation to execution!
Mockplus also enables you to collaborate with your team or other stakeholders to get their real-time feedback and hand off your prototypes or designs to developers with auto-generated accurate specs, assets and code snippets.
What’s more, you can preview and test your prototypes in a real device with Mockplus, helping you identify problems at an early stage and saving you a lot of money. It connects every member of your team and streamlines your whole workflow.
Conclusion
Starting an MCP can be a complicated process. That’s no secret. But with the right tools and techniques, it can be done with little to no money. So, why spend big bucks for a prototype when you can do it yourself. Take the advantage that the Internet offers, and find great tools to help you along for a reasonable cost.