How to Build a Winner Product
This is an email I sent today to all attendees of the JotForm Developer Competition.
JotForm Developer Competition has officially started today. So, I wanted share with you what I know about building a successful app. These ideas are not limited to the competition. Some of them can be applied to any products you develop.
Build for the Users
The only way to win the competition is to design your product for the users. The entries will be voted by JotForm employees and 100 most active JotForm users. So, you must ask yourself would a JotForm user love this app? Would they actually use it?
To get a sense of what kinds of things JotForm users are interested in, see the comments on my recent blog post about apps we built using the JotForm API.
Get Early User Feedback
Don’t build the wrong thing perfectly. A crappy product that gets the job done is always better than a great looking product for which the user has no use.
We are here to connect you with JotForm users. Let me know about your idea or the initial version of your app and we will connect you with actual JotForm users who might find your idea interesting and become a beta tester or an idea soundboard.
Do the Hard Things
Don’t go for the easy targets. Find hard but useful things. Hard looking things are not that hard once you start working on them. Most successful products get successful because they get the schlep out of their user’s way. Do things others don’t do. Do things others find boring or impossible.
Keep It Simple
Keep the feature set small. A simple product that can do a single job done well is always better than a complex, hard-to-figure-out product.
These are the lesson I learned mostly on many failed or barely alive products I built. They served me well finally building a successful product, namely JotForm. They will serve you well in the competition.
I hope you enjoy your time and have a blast building your app.
Now, go kick some ass. :)
