Trade Me’s Journey Towards a Thinnest Viable Platform (TVP)
The following case study explains what led Trade Me to introduce the concept of the Thinnest Viable Platform (TVP) from the book Team Topologies. We will explore what sparked our need to change the way we previously had been working, what we did, and the lessons we learned.
How did New Zealand’s largest online marketplace cut time to "Hello World” from 3 weeks to 1 day?
Trade Me’s journey towards a Thinnest Viable Platform (TVP)—now featured in the second edition of Team Topologies—shows how platform thinking can speed up delivery and reduce cognitive load.
What you will learn in this case study
🔵 Why Trade Me needed a new approach
🔵 How the TVP was designed and its guiding principles
🔵 How they delivered value from the very first iteration
🔵 The impact on developer experience and delivery speed
🔵 Lessons learned you can apply in your own teams
