MVP Scoping Skill
This skill guides Claude to apply MVP (Minimum Viable Product) thinking during feature discussions and planning conversations.
When to Use
Apply this skill when:
- •Users describe a new feature they want to build
- •Discussing scope or requirements for upcoming work
- •Users ask "what should we build first?" or similar
- •Planning conversations before formal issue creation
- •Users seem to be over-engineering or gold-plating solutions
- •Reviewing feature proposals or specifications
Core Principles
1. Ruthless Prioritization
Ask: "What is the absolute minimum needed for this feature to be functional?"
- •Focus on core functionality only
- •Defer edge cases to future iterations
- •Ship something that works, iterate later
- •If in doubt, cut it out
2. Vertical Slices Over Horizontal Layers
Build end-to-end functionality, not isolated layers:
- •Good MVP: "Users can create and save a basic profile"
- •Bad MVP: "Complete user model with all fields" (no UI, no save)
3. The "Ship Tomorrow" Test
For each requirement, ask: "If we had to ship tomorrow, would this be essential?"
- •Essential = Must have for feature to work at all
- •Nice-to-have = Can be added in a follow-up
- •Polish = Defer until core is proven
4. Explicit Deferrals
Always document what you're NOT doing in a "Deferred" section.
Guiding Questions
When scoping features, ask:
- •What's the single most important user outcome?
- •What's the simplest way to achieve that outcome?
- •What can we remove and still have something useful?
- •What assumptions can we validate with this MVP?
- •What would embarrass us if we shipped without it? (Only those are essential)
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Over-Engineering
- •Adding configuration for things that could be hardcoded
- •Building abstraction layers "for future flexibility"
- •Implementing features "while we're in there"
Premature Optimization
- •Performance tuning before measuring
- •Caching before proving it's needed
- •Scaling considerations for v1
Gold-Plating
- •Perfect error messages for unlikely scenarios
- •Comprehensive validation for internal tools
- •Beautiful UI for admin-only features
Integration with Linear Workflow
When this skill influences planning, the resulting Linear issues should:
- •Have clear, minimal acceptance criteria
- •Include a "Deferred" section documenting what's out of scope
- •Focus on vertical slices that could ship independently
- •Avoid sub-issues for "nice to have" features
Remember: "Ship the minimum that works."