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Why Developing an MVP for Travel App is a Good Idea?

Software Engineering

5 minutes read

Imagine saving your project from failure in advance by cutting down the cost of its development and getting it ready for market competition. Having such an opportunity is instrumental to successful custom travel software development. While there are many other explanations to what an MVP is, this is, probably, the most realist one, business-wise. The Minimum Viable Product is nothing else but a prototype of your travel business’s future app. You can use it to define the most important features the full-fledged product should have, while eradicating any flaws before it reaches actual customers. With travel apps especially sensitive to bugs and flaws (a disrupted 3-rd party payment integration will cost more those ordering plane tickets than the folks ordering food delivery), MVP solutions are a must.

MVP solutions

Who Needs It?

The first and foremost question you should ask yourself is who is going to need your product? Put bluntly, is there a niche in the market with a problem that your idea is about to resolve? No it does not mean that if the niche is filled, you should back off. In accordance with Statista, the worldwide online travel booking market is worth approximately $520 billion as of the beginning of 2022. That is, the market grows because the customers are in the constant search for the best product. 

By saying best, we mean that one that is easy and efficient to use. MVP solutions are built for defining the very same thing. They let you know whether your product will work when it reaches the market and whether it is worth working on in general. Hence, the first step in travel MVP development is defining your target audience, as this is from where all the research and development of your product starts

Set the Design

You might have already heard it but this is a rule that is never odd to repeat again and again: design is about the way a product works, and not about the way it looks. Now that you know who’s going to be your target audience, you can proceed with your app development MVP, and start infusing it with the features it needs for proper performance. As per Tech Jury, 90% of users tend to stop using an app or a service due to poor performance and not poor appearance

Basically, the set of design features you would need to infuse your solution with depends on the type of the solution you want to deliver. In the traveling business, there are four major types of app and platforms you can develop:

  • Travel planning and organizations apps;
  • Navigation and geolocation apps;
  • Booking apps;
  • Review and feedback apps;

Each of the aforementioned types of apps will require a different set of features during an MVP development for a startup. Here comes a list of must-have features for an MVP for each of the travel apps mentioned above.

Travel Planning MVP Booking MVP
  • Destinations search;
  • QR codes reader;
  • Itineraries search;
  • Schedules creation;
  • E-tickets;
  • Push notifications;
  • Categorized and filtered search;
  • Online check-ins;
  • Global currency support;
  • Multilingual;
  • Personalized offers.
Navigation and Geolocation MVP Review and Feedback MVP
  • Geolocation;
  • Offline accessibility;
  • Google Maps;
  • Google Places;
  • Speed limit;
  • Locations bookmarks;
  • Traffic data.
  • Authentication system;
  • Push notifications;
  • Personalized recommendations;
  • Fair review algorithm;
  • Badges, stickers, ranks, etc;
  • Location-based functionality.

Methods and Tools

When you’re done defining the kind of an MVP you need and the features you want to infuse it with, there is a need to choose the tech stack for your travel MVP development and the development method. One of the biggest mistakes that tech companies tend to make when working with MVP solutions is basing the very solution on the available expertise.

Nonetheless, it all should happen vice versa. Chaining the future product’s capabilities within the frame of a limited tech stack is not how professional custom software development works. Hence, think of an idea and define the value you want it to bring to your end-users. Then, let your tech partner offer a stack that will let you fulfill the product vision. Furthermore, product ideation on the basis of a limited tech stack will become a major bottleneck for your business once you decide to scale your project up. Thus, it is always the idea that comes first and defines the technology.

Develop and Test

Now you know the market segment you want to serve; you have the product idea; you know what you want it to do and what are the tools for implementing it. It is high time you developed and tested the product. This stage seems quite obvious in an MVP development for a startup so there is nothing much to talk about here. Meanwhile, pay special attention to the next step as it is what a successful MVP development boils down to.

Choose the Right Team

One of the most important steps that we decided to talk about in the end is finding the right software vendor, as developing MVP solutions is way easier with a trusted technical partner. Having an outsourced software development partner is ample with the benefits your business will experience. At least, you won’t have to deal with each of the aforementioned steps yourself. They will do everything for you swiftly and professionally.

Summing It Up

Every travel business has not been through the greatest of times during the last couple of years. Yet, the start-ups entering the industry are nothing less but amany, as the traveling niche is slowly getting back to its normal. Still, one mistake not only travel but any other startup does is thinking too highly of their product. Flaws are always there, and while some might think that travel MVP development is nothing else but doing the same work twice, travel app development MVP is the saving boat that not only prevents a business from drowning in the rampant ocean of competition, but sets it flowing into the still waters of stable performance and predictable business outcomes.

References

  1. techjury.net

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