In many cases, you would have an occurrence called ‘There should be an app for that’. It is due to this occurrence that there are millions of mobile applications in all the App Stores. Further, it is easy to form the idea for an application. But when it comes to the question of whether your idea is good or not, you have to definitely know the best app ideation process.
So for starts, let’s get you introduced to the three stages of mobile app idea validation. This is where the foundation for a mobile application development process is done. The explanation for the three stages is given below.
Stage 1: Brainstorming an App Idea
This is the first phase. How exactly do you get an idea for an application? The explanation is given below in detail.
A. Rigorously Monitor the App Stores
Begin compiling a list of which app categories you like. After that analyze the top-ranking applications in all those categories. You have to look in detail regarding the features and what features are missing. Also, think if you can provide some feature in your application, which will distinguish your app from the other ones.
B. Analyzing App reviews and listing Websites.
After the analysis of the top-ranking apps, you have to see the app’s rating and make sure to look at the review websites as well. You should also look at sites like AngelList or ProductHunt which will contain information related to all the new enterprises which are emerging in the field of your interest. Then find if the aforementioned business ventures can go mobile.
C. Participate in Meetups.
If you are out of ideas then go to attend meetups where entrepreneurs meet to speak about what they have in their mind and also will be on the lookout for aspiring people who are very much in sync with the entrepreneur’s ideas.
D. Analyzing who exactly is Getting Funded
The final way to get some motivation lies in finding out who are getting funded. All the enterprises that are in the limelight and are that prominent are where you have to look out for. This will give some good insight regarding where exactly everything is heading. You can use all this information and find where you fit in.
Stage 2: Analyzing what is Feasible
After you get a good idea about which mobile app category you want to jump in, you got to do the important step of validating whether what you want to do is practical. You have to analyze everything be it the venture’s prospects, the cost to develop the app and various other aspects as well.
Stage 3: Researching the Market
This is the final step before the mobile application development process begins. You have to clearly research what exactly will the market need from you and also how it gets benefitted.
Here there are two things that are important – the app’s features list and it’s business model. Compile your contender’s features and see which is the right fit for your application.
With all that said, now let’s get started on how to validate your mobile application idea
Checking how good your app idea really is will take a lot of time and effort. Below listed are some of the best ways how you can validate an app idea
1. Interacting with the Targeted Users
It is correct that your first step to introduce your app to the world will be by reaching out to the target audience. However, how will you achieve that? Where do you begin with?
Start by developing user personas which are very important when speaking of other app development stages. The user group should be illustrated in such a way where you get a greater perception of how your app will be used along with likable features, the layout and the such.
After you get to know who would associate with your app after its deployment, you should start the work to get your app idea registered in their minds. This will ultimately decide if your mobile app idea will be a success.
It can be done in several ways to do that by harnessing the power of Social Media Ads, Community Based Websites (Reddit, Quora, etc.) and Blogs.
Here is where you can find solutions for several questions like the following:
How important is the problem you want to give a solution?
What is the frequency of the issues faced by the user group?
Is the user group satiated with the present solution for the issue?
Will they be willing to pay for the solution in the future?
2.Analyzing the App Stores
Both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store have apps numbering in the millions. Finding the contenders who are operating with the same idea as you will be quiet a huge work.
To simplify things, use the following point by point process which will prove to be immensely beneficial when you do contender research and to find if the app idea of yours exists.
Step 1: Type your category name in the search bar of the store and look at the apps displayed within a couple of scrolls.
Step 2: Now type in the keywords which you assume your users will type in to find your app in the App Stores. Again note the apps that appear within two scrolls.
Step 3: Now list out all their features in a detailed manner including the common and unique ones.
Step 4: Analyze their reviews and ratings so that you can know how the users are associated with them
3. Keyword Research
This will help in giving insight on what people are speaking regarding your category. This will help in telling if there is an interest in your app.
Begin by listing out 15 to 20 words or phrases which you assume that people will use to search and come to your app. Feed the listed keywords in Google AdWords and Moz Keyword Explorer to analyze the traction. This will give insight into whether people are on the lookout for an app idea like yours or not.
Now you will clearly know if your app idea is attractive or not in the current market. Te keywords created in this stage will be beneficial enough in the later stages like when you are marketing the app outside the stores or if you are doing ASO. Soon enough you can find app developers pertaining to your domain.
4. Developing a Landing Page
Now create a landing page to pass on to everyone whom you had previously reached out and this applies to prospective users as well. It is to find if every such person is in sync with your mobile app idea. Link your landing page to Google Analytics and you can begin monitoring. The link ought to be shortened by URLBuilder or Bitly in order to know how many times that link was clicked.
The landing page should feature the app description, screenshots, and an eMail subscription form as well.
The tools needed for the landing page include Unbounce, LanderApp, Lead Pages and LaunchKit.io
5. Uploading a rough Version of the App onto the Review Websites
Key in your app idea in websites like ProductHunt or AngelList and get to see how all the other entrepreneurs in that community feel about it. Make use of these websites to market your app idea to the world.
You can check how exactly your mobile app idea is practical by using methods like MVP, Proof of Concept and Prototypes. And most importantly continue your research until everything falls in place.
Finally, now that everything is detailed about validating your mobile app idea, the next step would be to avail the services of a mobile app development agency.
Author-Bio
This article is written by Monish CEO of one of the well-reputed Mobile app Company in Chennai. He seeks after the imaginative examples in an inventive manner. He is very much interested in technological improvements in this specialized field and he has completed various articles in this field. He has made various articles subject to steady upgrades about mobile software and applications. His articles are viewed as an inspiration by youngsters, in most cases, it reveals the latest examples in the particular trends of technology. He loves exploring everything that’s in trend! In his free time, he likes to delve into various project management tools and apply his findings in his projects.
