We know how expensive, in terms of time, energy and money, launching a digital product is. To maximize your chances of success, you need to have a clear digital strategy prepared before kicking-off work on your future mobile apps.
Going full throttle on an idea without having a clear problem-solution architecture means leaving your project’s success to chance. Some ideas are lucky, some just aren’t. Billion- and million-dollar companies did not get where they are right now just because the entrepreneurs or their management were lucky people, but because they always had a clear strategic approach to the way they solve their customer’s problems. If they didn’t base their success on luck, why would you?
At mReady, we always go through the Launchpad Framework, and we never start designing or coding before both us and our clients are satisfied with the answers completed on the Launchpad Canvas.
1.1. What is the problem you want to solve?
As stated earlier, you need to fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Before you go any further, you need to describe the problem as clear as you can. Validate the description of the problem with friends, family, and coworkers to make sure it makes sense, especially to people that have no clue what you want to build. An example of a clearly described problem might be “Our clients are frustrated by the lack of responsiveness of our customer service department and our customer service team is swamped by requests from our clients.” or “Our viewers can’t access historic footage of our shows, movies or sitcoms.”
Do you recognize any apps that solve these problems?
1.2. Who is affected?
Once you clearly state the problem you want to solve, think about how the people that are affected by it look like. As a business, your job is to solve your clients’ problems, so try to focus on their needs and the way you can solve their problems. Problems that need fixing inside a business come from problems the business inflicts upon their customers (or users).
Are the people affected by the problem your current customers? Are they customers of your competition? Are they new people that use alternate solutions? How do they look like? What is their profession, gender, age, location? What kind of hobbies do they have? What are their hopes, fears, needs, and aspirations?
The more questions you answer about your users, the better you can empathize with them, the better you solve their needs, and match their expectations. Don’t forget that all of us are emotional beings that take emotional (sometimes irrational) decisions, and we tend to love (and buy) the products that match our emotional desires.
For a Customer Service Portal / App, targeted users might be aged between 20 and 50, tech savvy, with higher studies, that interact with the business more than once / year.
From this initial profile, you can start interviewing your already existing customers and get more feedback or insights on their pain points and needs. After conducting a few interviews and some research on your customers, you will discover some additional characteristics of your future users.
1.3. Alternate solutions
Now that you’ve discovered your target profile and have described the problem you want to solve, let’s explore what alternate solutions already exist. How do your users get past this problem? Do they use one of your competition’s products? Are they even aware they struggle with this problem? What are the upsides and downsides of the existing solutions?
Tip: A common pitfall we meet is believing there is no competition. If there is no other product like yours or there is no business that can solve this problem, people tend to be creative enough to solve the problem with alternate mechanisms or might not be aware of the problem. Think about how finance, engineering or (even) lists were done before Microsoft Excel: the competitor was a combination of 3 tools – Pen, Paper, and a Calculator.
What are the common denominators you have identified while discussing with your Target Profile? Complete this box in the mReady Launchpad Canvas with the most common answers you get from your future users.
1.4. Why is your solution valuable?
Answering this question might be the toughest one of them all. As an entrepreneur or product manager, we tend to fall in love with the solution and believe it’s bulletproof. Before going further with your project, think about your Unique Selling Point and your Unfair Advantage. What makes your product different? Why will your customers prefer your product instead of your competition or the existing alternate status quo?
Why did Microsoft Excel win against the old-fashioned Pen, Paper, and Calculator? Although the answer is obvious now, in 1985 it was not. Remember that even if it was a revolutionary invention, with less than half of today’s capabilities, it had its own opponents back then. Excel promised speed and it solved computation problems in significantly less time than traditional methods. It exponentially efficientized the way people work and increased productivity by (probably) over 1000%.
Think about how your app will change your Target Profile’s life for the better and why they would be interested in looking at your solution. Discuss your thoughts with representatives of your Target Profile and validate it creates enough value for them, as you believe it will, before going further.
When you have clear answers to these questions, try shaping them into one single phrase. This will be your North Star going further.
For example, an answer might be “Our product guarantees all customers’ needs are taken care of in less than 15 minutes, while creating a seamless customer service experience”.
If your product is a VOD platform that offers access to exclusive content, a good answer would be “Our product offers anybody the ability to experience exclusive historic footage of World War 2”.
1.5. What is your vision of success?
If you’ve got this far, I want to congratulate you on your progress! We’ve clarified the way your product will solve the problem you identified and you’re moving steadily towards a successful launch. But what does a successful launch mean? How will you know if you’ve succeeded or failed? What is your vision of success?
Success is always relative to our own desires and business KPIs. You can’t be prepared for the best if you do not set clear and measurable objectives for your product.
Brainstorm with your team, your business partners, or friends about 3 to 5 metrics that describe your definition of success. Define tangible values for each objective and remember: each business or product is unique. One’s vision of success might be a failure of some other business or vice versa.
Think about the number of downloads you want to reach, or ratings on the store, since these are a relevant metric for you at this stage.
What revenue or savings do you expect to reach in the next 3, 6, 12 months after launching?
You’re developing your apps as part of a marketing campaign. What do you expect your users to remember about your brand after using it?
After completing all the answers on the canvas so far and having a clear image of the Problem – Solution Architecture, you’re almost ready to move further. At the end of this step, ask yourself: “Is your idea worth investing in?”.
If the answer is NO, congratulations! You’ve made great progress exploring this route! Now go back to the drawing board and try a different approach towards solving the problem you identified.
If the answer is YES, congratulations! You are now prepared to move onto the next step in the mReady Launchpad Framework.
If you are in the process of ideating or creating a mobile app you can Book a FREE Product Discovery Session here
Mobility has become crucial in our daily life and the way we interact with products or services to solve our work or personal problems determines our behaviors, our mood and dictates the way our life…
Read more
We witnessed multiple failure destined projects, both hitting dead-ends or pivoting on an ascending path. The most common pitfalls we discovered are the following: 1. Falling in love with your idea…
Read more