4 Questions You Need to Answer Before Building Your App

Every project begins with assumptions.

You assume your product idea will meet a need and that people will recognize your new product will meet that need. Answering the following questions will help you establish priorities as you define your ever-important minimum viable product (MVP).

In order for my idea to be successful…

If the idea is a product to be marketed to the public:

I assume that:

1. My customer has ____________ problem (define the problem).
2. ____________ matters to my customers.
3. ______________ will pay for it (who, and how much).
4. There are no satisfactory substitutes. (true or false?)

If the idea is for an internal digital product (to be used within the company and not distributed to the public):

I assume that:

1. My employees have ____________ problem (define the problem).
2. ____________ matters to my employee’s.
3. My employee’s will want to use the tool because ____________. (Hint: “Because I say so” isn’t a good answer)
4. There are no satisfactory substitutes, like 3rd party tools (true or false?).

Which of the assumptions you have made are highest risk?

Which is most likely to derail the success of your idea? That’s the assumption you test first — it’s better to test your assumptions before you fully build out your idea.

Design your MVP experiment to test all assumptions from riskiest to least risky. The idea is to fail fast, if the idea is going to fail, with the minimal amount of time and expense. By answering these questions at the very beginning of the ideation process, you can determine whether your product idea is worth pursuing.