How businesses can validate a mobile app idea before spending thousands
Developing a mobile application takes time, money, and resources, so before taking your idea to the development stage, ensure you’ve validated it. Unfortunately, many companies charge straight into building an app without knowing if their idea solves an actual problem or if anyone wants it. Validating your idea before building your app minimises your financial risk and sets you up for long-term success. If you partner with the best mobile app developers, they can guide you through the validation process.
Identify the problem being solved
Start by asking yourself: what is my app going to do? The first step in validating your idea is understanding the problem that you intend to solve. It is important to establish a unique selling point before moving on to design or functionality. Every successful app starts with a specific purpose.
Will your app simplify a task? Will it help users manage their lives more efficiently? Could your app replace a product that customers currently buy? Good ideas provide solutions to problems that users face day-to-day.
Consider your target audience and identify who these people are. Where do they encounter this problem and why does it trouble them? Are there already solutions to this issue? How does your app idea stand out from the competition? Asking these questions will force you to think more about your potential customers.
Finding people who match your criteria and interviewing them, surveying them, or casually asking for their input can be extremely beneficial.
Research your competitors
Making sure you’re not replicating the same idea is key. Make sure you research other applications like yours or those that aim to solve the same problem. There is no need to duplicate something that already exists. Chances are another business had the same idea before you, so research what they are doing right and wrong.
There are plenty of successful applications that have been iterated over time. You can learn from other businesses that found and positioned themselves within their niche early on. Reading user reviews is another great way to discover what they love and hate about your competition.
The goal of this research is to figure out how you can improve on their products. It is always best to build off of something that works rather than trying to start from scratch.
Build a mock-up
Next, create a prototype of what you believe your application will look like. Don’t sweat the small details. Your prototype shouldn’t be filled with functionality; instead, it should portray the user journey and how one might navigate your application.
By building a clickable wireframe or mock-up, you can get a feel for what your app will look like and begin testing these ideas with potential users. Validating an idea before build actually starts can save you thousands in development costs.
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Create a survey and test your idea on real users
Obtaining feedback from your target audience is one of the best ways to validate your app idea. Sharing your prototype with someone will provide invaluable insight into how people perceive your concept, design, and proposed features.
During this stage, you want to gather as much feedback as possible. Don’t ask questions that can be answered with yes. Ask how they would use the application, whether the idea is clear, what value it provides, and whether they would use it daily. Let people be honest with their feedback. Don’t get offended but use the information to your advantage.
Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
A minimum viable product, or MVP, is essentially a scaled-down version of your idea that solves the core problem. Think of launching an MVP as a way of testing demand. You’ll want to build an app that allows users to get value from your product but with fewer features. Monitoring user engagement will allow you to make adjustments before release. This way, you can build your app based on how your customers use it versus how you think they will.
Validate interest
Create a landing page. You don’t have to build out an entire website if you don’t want to. All you need is a page that describes what your application will be, how it works, and lets visitors sign up or learn more. How many people sign up? These are potential customers who have shown interest in your idea.
Launch advertising campaigns. There are tons of ways to run small digital ads. If you start seeing people, click on your ads and sign up, then you may have found a winner. Share your ideas on Social Media. Drive traffic to your landing page and observe how your followers react.
Finalise your business model
For an app to be successful, it should have a sustainable business model. Figuring out how your app makes money is just as important as validating your audience. Will you operate on a subscription basis? One-off purchase? Included ads? Upsell premium features?
Testing your price points and costing out your customer acquisition will help you avoid building something that customers love but won’t pay for. You should also account for long-term costs like maintenance and app store fees. Validate these details to make sure investing in development makes good business sense.
Don’t spend months or years building an app that nobody wants. Whether you are looking for
Android or iPhone app development, consider validating demand before moving forward with any heavy coding or complex features. Use research, testing, mock-ups and MVPs to help validate your app idea before you start building. This way, you’ll feel confident that the time and money you invest will return a profit.
