What you need to do for your App Idea prior to documenting your MVP.

In this article we will outline all the different phases that go from App Idea to documenting MVP. We feel there is confusion around this subject within the Entrepreneurial space and hope to help you understand the process from A to Z.

1) When coming up with an app idea, the first question you need to ask yourself is ‘why’? Cliché we know, but there does need to be market demand for your application before you go any further. Ask yourself:

- Are there any other apps similar?

- What will my app do that others already on the market fail to achieve?

- Why are you the person to build this app?

- What are the new features that you will be introducing to your target market that they haven’t experienced in the other apps?

Ok, I think there is a need but some big players in the space could probably crush me easily, is that something I need to be concerned about?

There are always opportunities when the end-consumer is unhappy. The moment you can capture what your end-consumer requires and you are able to deliver that to your app, we encourage you to press on. Of course there is risk when it comes to the big players, but they are either going to like you and want to buy you out or you will eventually become a big player yourself and compete with them. Very few tech projects would have begun if big players scared them too much. You just need subscribers or users who are completely happy and from there, you diversify.

Next, it is time to validate your app concept. Here you are starting to collect data on whatever you plan to build which all must be based on real customer experience. Let’s say your idea is to streamline the process for selling cars, if the current car selling sites don’t have an iOS or Android app, a reasonable theory would state that there is an opportunity to improve the experience for the consumer with an app. Maybe your focus could be to allow people to skip the website altogether by taking and adding photos in-app, then edit and upload these pictures to their in-app profile to sell their car with. Apps have evolved because people are unhappy with the long clunky process of other means to achieve the same result (in this example, to sell their car.) So now it is time to approach those people and validate your idea.

How do I get to those people?

It can be tough. In the above example, you need to speak to car owners who are considering selling their car and people who have sold their car in the past.

Always utilize your personal network for feedback where possible, but also look to Meetup groups. Sticking with the car selling idea, you can attend meetups for professionals who are probably going to have sold a car before and approach them to ask about their experience in doing so.

If you have an existing database of people you should leverage that by sending them a link to a SurveyMonkey form to determine whether or not they think there’s still space for another app to accommodate these proposed unmet needs.

What questions should I ask in the survey?

You are trying to find out what people are thinking about your idea. At this stage it is simply idea validation and not product validation so it’s important not to ask questions that are favorable to you. You need the brutal truth here because it will save you pain in the long run.

Let’s look at another example; you might think that voice or voice-enabled car search can be made easier. So when you’re putting a question in a survey, you wouldn’t write, “What do you think of voice-enabled car search?” That’s not going to give you a practical response.

You need to ask questions along the lines of, “How can Google voice or Siri make an impact for you in car search?” or “How should Voice enabled car search be disrupted?”

Ideally the answers to most of your questions should give the consumer options.

It is important to avoid too many opportunities for open ended responses in the beginning because it can lead to overwhelm. The people filling out the survey may suggest a whole range of features that aren’t practical or possible way beyond what the basic skeleton requires which renders their input useless. That is the type of feedback you need when you’re idea has matured and you are looking to make incremental improvements in your product.

How do I know if my concept is validated?

You need to look at the breakdown of responses that indicate interest vs. disinterest.

What sort of market share would you be aiming for in the future? Who are those other players?

For example, if you want to start a real estate app there are already so many players in the market, so a five (5) percent market share might be all that you need. So even if your survey generates a (60) percent strike rate towards your idea, it still may be worth pursuing. Your target isn’t to get 70% Market Share so you don’t need to have as many people love your idea as you would for an app aiming for a higher % of market share.

As a general rule, we wouldn’t advise pressing on with your concept as is if your survey results show less than a 50% genuine interest.

If your feedback isn’t so favourable, it’s good for you to sit down, and consider whether you have targeted the right people or not. Your target is wrong at this point or your concept doesn’t have the legs you thought it did.

If your results have validated your idea (but not your product), it is time to do the Product Documentation for your MVP.

More on that in the next article.