How to Write an MVP Feature List for Your App (with Examples)
By the Flowmaps team · Updated · 4 min read
An MVP feature list is the shortest list of features your app needs to be useful to its first customers. To write one, list everything your app could do, keep only what's needed to solve the main problem, and put those features in the order you'll build them. This guide shows how, with three example lists you can copy.
What "MVP" means (in plain words)
MVP stands for "minimum viable product": the smallest version of your app that real people can use and would pay for, or at least come back to. It's not a demo and it's not the final product. It's the first version that does the main job well enough.
The point of an MVP is to learn. You put something real in front of people quickly, see what they use, and build the next features based on that, instead of guessing for months.
Step 1: Write down everything the app could do
Start wide. Write every feature you can think of, without judging. Phrase each one as "who does what": "Customers can pay online", not "payments".
This list will be too long. That's fine; the next step is cutting.
Step 2: Find the one main job
Ask: what's the one thing a customer must be able to do for this app to be worth using? For a booking app, it's booking. For a habit tracker, it's ticking off today's habits. For an internal dashboard, it's seeing everything about a client in one place.
Every feature in your MVP should either be that main job, or be needed to make it work.
Step 3: Keep only what the main job needs
Go through your list and ask for each feature: "Can a customer do the main job without this?" If yes, it's not MVP. Move it to "next" or "later".
Don't cut the essentials, though. Most apps need these from day one:
- Accounts, if people's data must be kept separate
- Payments, if you want to charge from the start
- A way to contact you, even if it's just an email address
- A privacy policy and terms, if you store personal data or take payments
Step 4: Put the MVP features in order
Build what other features depend on first. Accounts usually come before everything else, because most features need to know who's using them. Then the main job. Then payment.
Example 1: Booking app
Idea: dog owners book a trusted local walker and pay online.
| Order | Feature | Why it's in the MVP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owners sign up and log in | Bookings and payments belong to someone |
| 2 | Walkers have a profile | Owners need to choose a walker |
| 3 | Owners book a walk | The main job |
| 4 | Owners pay online | You want to earn from day one |
Next: photo after each walk, reminder the day before, reviews. Later: repeat bookings.
Example 2: Habit tracker (mobile app)
Idea: people pick a few daily habits, tick them off and keep a streak.
| Order | Feature | Why it's in the MVP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pick your habits | Nothing to track without them |
| 2 | Tick off today | The main job |
| 3 | Streaks | The reason people come back |
Next: daily reminder, progress calendar, sign in to keep your data. Later: sharing.
Example 3: Internal client dashboard
Idea: a small agency sees every client's projects, invoices and next steps in one place.
| Order | Feature | Why it's in the MVP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team members log in | Client data must stay private |
| 2 | List of clients | The starting point |
| 3 | Projects per client | The main job |
Next: invoices, next steps per client. Later: a weekly summary email.
From feature list to build plan
A feature list says what to build. To hand it to an AI app builder like Lovable, Bolt or Claude Code, you also need how each feature should work: what people see, what's saved, and what "done" looks like. Our guide on how to plan an app before you build it with AI covers that step.
Flowmaps does both: it suggests the feature list from your idea, sorts it into "build first", "next" and "later", and writes a build step for each feature. You can see full examples on the example maps page.
Frequently asked questions
How many features should an MVP have?
Usually 3 to 6. If your list is longer, check whether every feature is really needed for the main job.
Should the MVP look polished?
It should look trustworthy and be easy to use, but it doesn't need every detail. Clear beats pretty in a first version.
Is a login always part of the MVP?
Only if people's data needs to be kept separate or saved between visits. A simple calculator app might not need one; a booking app does.
What if customers ask for something that's not on the list?
Great, that's what an MVP is for. Write it down, see how many people ask, and decide whether it goes in the next version.