I like to use the term Minimum Awesome Product (or "MAP") rather than the common term, Minimum Viable Product ("MVP").
The distinction is important but can be misunderstood.
I still absolutely believe in launching early and iterating fast. There is no substitute. I still hold with Reid Hoffman's famous quote:
If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.
"MAP" is not meant to imply higher quality than MVP.
What MAP means is that the product you first launch has to have at least one "wow moment". That's what makes it awesome.
A "wow moment" is the moment of user delight that shows how your product is solving the unmet need you've chosen in a neat and/or novel way. A "wow moment" is what gives a user the reason to show their phone screen to their friend or colleague sitting next to them and say "check this out".
MAP = MVP + Wow Moment
Without a Wow Moment, what are you really testing?
