The Mobile MVP Decision Tree: When to Fake It, When to Build It, and What to Deliver to Contractors

Set a simple hypothesis (who, problem, value, price) and run three short experiments in parallel: fake‑door landing, concierge trial, and low‑fidelity prototype. Treat each experiment as a binary instrument: did the audience take a real action that implies value? Examples of signal: click-to-start, paid deposit, completed onboarding conversation, or repeat manual fulfillment.

Use concrete thresholds you can measure in 30 days. Example thresholds you can adapt: 250 unique visitors with ≥2.5% click‑to‑start; 10 paid concierge trials; 30 users who complete a prototype task. If a test hits its threshold, follow the mapped path below. If none hit thresholds, iterate messaging or target audience before investing in code.

Use a fake‑door landing when you want to test demand and pricing without building product mechanics. The landing should position the core value, show a clear pricing anchor or CTA (e.g., “Start free trial” or “Preorder — $X”), and measure commitment (email + micro‑deposit is best). Track both click conversion and the funnel (ad → landing → CTA → payment attempt).

If the landing proves demand, your next hire is a growth contractor (ads + funnel optimization). Contractor‑ready deliverables you should hand them: copy + hero value props, 3‑variant CTAs, tracking plan (UTM taxonomy and conversion events), a small media plan, and a conversion test matrix. This lets a contractor run fast experiments without guessing product intent.

Concierge MVP is for verifying whether you can deliver the outcome customers want — before automating it. Deliver the result manually to a small set of users, instrument time‑to‑value and satisfaction, and validate willingness to pay for the delivered outcome rather than the product features.

Hand a service contractor a concise concierge playbook so they can execute repeatable manual workflows. The playbook should include intake script, success criteria, step‑by‑step manual fulfillment steps, templates for messages and deliverables, pricing and billing flow, and a checklist for edge cases. Capture time/cost per delivery — that becomes your minimum viable price and informs what to automate first.

Only move to code when (a) behavioral signals show users will pay or repeat the core action and (b) you’ve prioritized the smallest surface that delivers that outcome. Below are three minimal build packs tailored to common mobile MVP scenarios: 'Auth + Core Flow', 'Data‑in + Push/Notify', and 'Content + Curated Feed'. Each pack lists exactly what to deliver to a contractor so they can ship fast and predictably.

For each pack include a clear acceptance checklist: functional flows, edge cases, performance targets, and QA steps. Hand the contractor the Figma file (annotated), an API contract or sample CSV, a priority backlog (must/should/could), and a staging account with test credentials.

Poor handoffs cause most MVP delays. Give contractors a compact bundle they actually use: a single 'Dev Handoff' Figma file with Dev Mode enabled or a linked handoff version, annotated frames for states and edge cases, named components, exportable assets, and a small spec doc mapping screens to API calls and data samples.

Also include a short onboarding meeting (30–60 minutes) where you walk the contractor through acceptance criteria and answer questions. Embed the developer checklist into the Figma file or a one‑page PDF so the contractor has a daily reference while building.