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6 Comments

How to check iOS App Idea

Hey!
How are you checking your ideas of mobile applications? Do you have any frameworks or maybe checklists?

I have several ideas of the apps and do not know which one to choose first. I can estimate the development time, but have no idea how to understand is there any chance to make money on each of them...

Do not want to waste time, please help.

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    The App Store is not great for validating ideas. Even TestFlight builds have to be reviewed by Apple. Meeting all requirements takes time. Not sure if it's any better on Google.

    You might be able to study search volume and competition with App Store Search tools.

    But ideally you know your market and customers. Then you need to find a way to get in touch and talk with many of them. Make a basic landing page and collect emails from these places. This isn't different from other types of products. You can also start with a no code web app prototype.

    I think some developers also take the risk and just ship an app without much validation. For example with new iOS features. It can go well like with widgets or not so well like iMessage apps. But this is quite a gamble.

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    Hi @dsuvorov! I think this is relevant for any new project idea. First off, do the apps solve a problem? You should simplify what each app is & the problem they're solving. Then you need to do customer discovery to get a better idea what's worth your time, I really like the book "The Mom Test" by @robfitz for guidance on how to talk to people & ask good questions.

    You can also look for ideas by doing competitive analysis, see what apps exist already that people use to solve those problems. How do those people use & talk about those apps?

    Just ideas to get started, hope it's helpful.

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      Completely agree.
      Plus if you want to analyze it from the business point of view, a Lean canvas might help: https://www.fatbit.com/fab/lean-mobile-app-development-canvas/#:~:text=The lean canvas is incredibly,out what customers actually want.

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        Agree the business model canvas is great, do you know other resources you've come across behind business research/planning in a mobile app context? Putting together a big list of mobile resources for the group.

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          Hm, mostly for the marketing/sales side. And it's more like the process:
          i) Sending out a survey - asking questions based on the Mom test - Problem validation. At this point just seeing if the problem is a problem.
          ii) Interviewing with potential users - asking questions based on the Mom test. Here it can help to show a prototype (how would the app work) - Idea validation. Can also get some idea about how much people would be willing to pay for this.
          iii) Creating target personas based on interviews. Based on this, estimating the total market potential:
          for example people 20-30 are interested. How many are in your country * what proportion could you reach * willingness to pay.
          Target persona: https://blog.hootsuite.com/buyer-persona/
          iv) For marketing/sales plans:
          Using the buyer's journey template: https://columbiaroadcom.medium.com/why-and-how-to-create-a-customer-journey-map-download-free-template-b832a614cbe0
          Canvas specifically for growth hacking: https://columbiaroadcom.medium.com/how-to-start-ideating-for-growth-opportunities-download-free-template-452ae472ac13
          (quite a lot of overlap with the others)

          I hope this helps in some way.
          For @dsuvorov maybe steps i-iii would help narrow down. See which has a problem that needs solving, which idea is needed and how much are people willing to pay :)

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    i have an app idea. Im looking for iOS dev. can you help?

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