Do you feel under pressure to innovate quickly, make smart investments, and prove the value of your digital products? How do you measure the return on investment (ROI) from a software project, especially when you can’t afford to wait six months to a year to verify measurable results?

At MichiganLabs, we focus on delivering value faster by getting software into your users’ hands quickly. We also help you identify the most critical metrics for success from the outset, ensuring you can make informed decisions. This approach builds confidence, creates momentum, and generates real results early on in the project.

Start with answering: “Why are we here?”

It may sound obvious, but many companies overlook what I believe is the most important step in delivering value quickly: defining what value actually means for their organization. We believe the first step to success is aligning on product goals and outcomes, and we often use tools like the Business Model Canvas to facilitate this process.

A Business Model Canvas workshop helps establish a shared understanding of your product’s value proposition. By clearly identifying what “value” means for your digital product, our teams can prioritize the right features and move forward with confidence and speed.

Defining time to value and why it matters

At MichiganLabs, “time to value” is a key metric we focus on. It refers to how quickly a software product begins delivering meaningful outcomes for its users. The goal is not just to launch a product into the marketplace ASAP, but to ensure users can start benefiting from it immediately upon release.

That said, this doesn’t mean waiting until every feature is perfect before launching. Early user feedback is critical in reducing the time it takes for your product to deliver value. Along the way this early feedback provides a number of additional benefits:

• Increased confidence: By delivering value early, we help you and your team build trust in your investment and the development process.

• Risk reduction: Delivering software in smaller, incremental releases allows for easier adjustments, reducing the risk of committing to features that might not work.

• Stay ahead of competitors: Releasing an early version of your product faster helps you stay competitive and prevents others from beating you to the market.

Product management is about managing risk by making small, measurable bets. To help clients see value quickly, we aim to iterate and get feedback on components of the final product throughout the development process. Here are a few practical examples of what we might deliver early and often:

• User research reports: Our design practice is invaluable in their ability to sit down with your target users and identify their core needs and how best to enable their jobs. User research can really impact the fitness of a product.

• Prototypes: Early on, we might deliver a clickable prototype or wireframe. This allows users and stakeholders to see the product's design and flow—and give immediate insight. It's an efficient way to validate the product direction before development even begins.

• Alpha feature tests: We can also release specific features—like a new user dashboard or search function—early in the process. This gives users immediate functionality while the rest of the product continues to evolve.

• Beta launches: Sometimes the best way to get feedback is by launching first to a hand-selected user group that is well-equipped to shape the product. Our team is skilled at helping clients get the most out of these launches.

What metrics matter when prioritizing short-term wins?

When focusing on identifying immediate value, it’s essential to track the right metrics so you can see if your project is on the right path. We need to start gathering data early so that we can make informed decisions together and steer development effectively.

Key metrics to measure include:

• Adoption metrics: Tracking downloads, activation rates, and engagement metrics helps gauge early interest and usability.

• Feature usage: Monitoring daily active users, session duration, and engagement with specific features to ensure they're adding value.

• Cost savings: Measuring efficiency increases and cost reductions can highlight early ROI that may not be realized as revenue.

• Time to market: Shortening the time it takes to go from idea to product launch can provide quick wins and important feedback, before spending too much time on an individual feature.

How to overcome obstacles to seeing value quickly

Even when both parties focus on achieving value early, obstacles can arise that slow down our progress. These challenges commonly include stakeholder misalignment, unclear vision, or overcomplicated solutions.

Through our years of experience, we have a few strategies we use to overcome these hurdles for our clients.

We pursue a clear vision and alignment:

Again, it’s crucial that all stakeholders are aligned on the project’s vision from the start (see our article on securing internal approval). Otherwise, we risk derailing progress and delaying value. At MichiganLabs, we work with you to define clear goals and priorities—often through a product strategy session—ensuring that every release contributes directly to your business objectives.

We prioritize simplicity:

Trying to identify a solution that will do everything for everyone can also lead to delays. By focusing on incremental, manageable goals and a strategic product roadmap, we reduce complexity. We aim to build what's most important first, whether that’s a prototype, MVP, or a key feature—so you see value immediately.

We measure what matters:

As we’ve said, tracking the right metrics is essential to understanding the impact of these early releases. We not only guide clients on what to measure, but we track this information ourselves too. Key metrics such as time to market, user engagement, feature usage, and cost savings help us validate that we’re delivering the right value at the right time.

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Waiting a year or more to see any return on your software investment isn’t an option. By focusing on time to value, MichiganLabs helps you deliver working software—and measurable ROI—early and often.

Whether it’s through prototypes, MVPs, feature tests, or automated workflows, our approach ensures that you can start proving the value of your investment right away, helping you make informed decisions, gather feedback, and build momentum with every release.