Why having a ‘good idea’ for an app isn’t enough nowadays

In the early days of the app store, anybody could throw together a fart app or an app which resembled a lightsaber, and it worked. Apps like this were a novelty back in 08/09 so people loved them. Now we’re in 2016 and apps aren’t as disposable as they used to be.

Clients often think that to have a popular app, all you need is a good idea. What is often overlooked is that along with these popular apps out there that just seem like a good idea, there’s often a well thought through product strategy to back it up.

Have a strategic plan

I spend a lot of time working with start-ups. It’s baffling how many clients come with a well defined feature set for their app, but nothing to back any of it up. More often than not our initial workshops with clients involve taking a step back from the features and finding out how their product brings real value to the end user. We do this by looking at :

• What the problem is that they’re overcoming
• What is their USP — What makes them different to their competitors
• Who is their primary target market

These are just some very high level questions which need to be answered at this initial first stage. Here’s what else you should think about including in your strategic plan:

• An elevator pitch — you should be able to sell you idea to people within 2 minutes.
• A mission statement — what are you trying to achieve?
• SWOT analysis — what are you strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
• Targets — what are you striving towards and how are you going to measure your success.
• Marketing plan — how do you plan to take your app to market?

All of these help shape your app into a well defined digital product, which is absolutely necessary in today’s oversaturated market.

Build features for real problems

‘I want my app to have a Tinder style controller’

This is something the majority of clients are currently requesting. Everybody wants to ‘tinderise’ their app somehow. The real question is, how best can I display this information to the user. It might well be that a swipe controller fits the bill, but jumping to conclusions at an early stage can be dangerous. Focus on the problems, then how we can alleviate these problems with certain features and then how these features can be implemented.

This is just one example of how people sometimes prioritise features over actual problems, but it’s a common issue.

Get the initial product right and go from there

Quite often people will want the first version of the app to be feature rich and do absolutely everything they have in mind. This is because clients want to get the most for their money, but your app shouldn’t be valued by how many features it has, but by how well it tackles a specific problem.

Users want simple answers to big problems.

Having a well defined roadmap for your app is imperative, trying to fit everything into the version 1 or the MVP is very risky. It’s best to release a product quickly, get feedback, iterate and then update it. This way you’re getting valuable feedback at an early stage.

Users have high expectations

User’s have become ‘app snobs’ in the last couple of years. Without knowing it, users have become very good at subconsciously knowing whether an app has been well designed or not. This is because they are constantly interacting with apps on a day-to-day basis, and the apps they’re using the majority of the time are the market leaders.

This sets the bar high and creates a level of expectation from the user. The app has to perform well, have a well architected layout and look visually pleasing. Therefore, more often than not, you need a strong team of developers, UX designers and UI designers to create an app which meets and exceeds all of these expectations.