The MVP Scoping Worksheet

Part 1 — The Riskiest Assumption

Every idea rests on assumptions. Name the one that, if wrong, sinks the whole thing. That's what your MVP must test.

• The riskiest assumption behind my idea is: ____________________
• If this assumption is wrong, the idea fails because: ____________________
• The fastest way to test it with real users is: ____________________

Part 2 — The One Outcome

Describe the single outcome a user should be able to reach. One sentence. If you need the word 'and', you may be scoping two features.

• A user can: ____________________
• They start at: ____________________ and end at: ____________________
• The moment they feel the value is when: ____________________

Part 2.5 — Tight Scope Examples

Use these examples to pressure-test your own sentence. Good MVP scopes sound narrow because they are designed to ship.

• Too broad: 'Build a marketplace.' Better: 'A seller can list one item and a buyer can request to purchase it.'
• Too broad: 'Build a CRM.' Better: 'A user can create a lead, update its status, and see the active pipeline.'
• Too broad: 'Build an AI assistant.' Better: 'A user can upload one document and ask questions against that document only.'

Part 3 — Acceptance Criteria

List the concrete, testable statements that define 'done'. Each one is a single checkable sentence. Anything not on this list is explicitly out of scope.

• Criterion 1: ____________________
• Criterion 2: ____________________
• Criterion 3: ____________________
• Criterion 4: ____________________
• Criterion 5: ____________________

Part 4 — Explicitly Out of Scope

Name what you are deliberately NOT building yet. Writing it down protects your timeline.

• Not building yet: ____________________
• Not building yet: ____________________
• Hardcoding instead of making configurable: ____________________

Part 5 — The 14-Day Fit Test

Answer honestly. If the answer to any of these is 'only if nothing goes wrong,' cut one more thing from Part 3.

• An experienced engineer could build, test, and deploy this scope in 14 days.
• The scope includes auth, database, deployment setup, and platform handoff and still fits.
• I can describe the whole thing in one sentence (Part 2).
• Every acceptance criterion is a single, checkable statement.

Decision Rule

If you have more than five acceptance criteria, more than one user role, or more than one core workflow, split the idea into a launch sprint and a follow-up sprint. A smaller first launch gives you something real to test instead of a larger build that stays unfinished.