E-Commerce MVP
Bread & Butter
TIMELINE
Feb 19–Mar 2, 2024
TEAM
3 Frontend, 3 Backend
ROLE
Project Manager & Backend Developer
SKILLS
Project Management
Product Planning
Backend Development
Turning a commerce concept into a working MVP within two weeks.
Bread & Butter is an e-commerce MVP built around a curated international cookbook catalog.As project manager and backend developer, I structured the product scope, requirements, and data model while coordinating implementation across frontend and backend.
How do we align a six-person team around a complete commerce MVP in two weeks?
The short timeline required clear scope, shared requirements, and close coordination between frontend and backend while covering both customer and administrator journeys.
A focused commerce flow with shared requirements
We prioritized the core shopping journey and administrator tools while defining product requirements and data structures to keep frontend and backend implementation aligned.
Browse & Discover
Curated cookbook catalog
Users can browse, sort, and explore cookbook details, recommendations, prices, and stock.
Cart & Checkout
Purchase flow
Cart updates, shipping calculation, and guest order tracking support the full purchase journey.
Account
Role-based access
Authentication separates customer account features from administrator-only tools.
Order Management
Admin operations
Administrators can review orders, update fulfillment status, and manage cancellations.
Product Management
Catalog operations
Administrators can create, edit, remove, and manage product information and images.
Category Management
Catalog structure
Administrators can manage categories to keep the catalog organized and navigable.
Defined features, CRUD requirements, access levels, and priorities to align implementation across the team.
Mapped entities and relationships to establish the data model and clarify API inputs and outputs.
Mapped customer and administrator journeys from browsing through purchase and ongoing management.
Delivered the commerce MVP in 2 weeks
Completed the core customer and administrator experience within the project sprint.
Aligned a 6-person delivery team
Used shared requirements and data structures to coordinate implementation across frontend and backend.
What I learned?
Align before building
Starting without a shared API specification created avoidable friction between frontend and backend development.
Simple response examples and lightweight endpoint documentation gave the team a clearer contract.
Define the core before adding more
The two-week timeline made prioritization as important as implementation.
Agreeing on the essential customer and administrator journeys helped the team focus on delivering a complete MVP.