Launch an app that people actually want to use

Three exercises to determine which features are essential for the first release of your app

My position as Design Lead at Infinite Red means I see a lot of clients at the beginning of their journey. While many are established organizations, we also get our fair share of clients who are investing in their own dreams and ideas to launch their own startup. While the pleasantries and blue sky planning are all fun at the beginning of the planning process, the reality comes for everyone daring enough to start their own venture. It’s a lot of stress, late nights, and second-guessing that not even the best of us can totally shake. We know this at Infinite Red, and it’s why we invest heavily in our process so we can eliminate as much guesswork from the feature selection process for our clients as possible.

While we have a framework that we are happy with, I can’t stress enough that creating a digital product (app, website, or otherwise) is much more than the tools you use to make it. Creating a product is understanding on a fundamental level the problem you are trying to solve, who you are solving for, and why one approach is better than another.

If you are like me (a chronic over-thinker), then this is for you. Over the course of several years working with some of the fastest moving companies at Infinite Red, I picked up a few exercises we use for settling on first version of any project (also referred to as the MVP — Minimum Viable Product — in the tech industry).

Disclaimer: this article won’t focus on some very real obstacles founders may face. Budget, timeline, and other things outside of your control will also impact the features you have at launch.

Let’s get into it.

Your MVP’s super power is hiding in plain sight

Product design is problem-solving. It’s looking around at the space, spotting an opportunity, and then making something that attempts to fill it. If you are trying to decide on a set of features for your new app, it can be a good idea to know what opportunities there are in the market that are not already being met. Otherwise, you are just going to be settling on features because they are “cool” or because the competition already has them. Starting out, the competition will almost always have more money than you, which means they have the resources to outspend you every time. We believe any founder’s super power in sprint planning is also the obvious one: obsess over the problem you are solving. Solve it in a new and unique way. Solve the problem so well that you refuse to be ignored.

When you sit down for your MVP sorting exercise, come prepared with a good understanding of the problem at hand. Then, as you begin to take stock of every feature you would like to focus on in your initial release, ask yourself one question: will this feature help in solving this problem? If the answer is no, it is an easy candidate for the “on hold” column. If you find the answer is a clear “yes”, it probably means a strong argument could be made for investing in that feature.

I know what you might be thinking: what do you do if it seems like all of your features are good candidates for the MVP? It might be time to start ranking them on priority. Ask yourself: Which features solve this problem the most? Sort them, based on priority for the ability to solve the problem, from top to bottom. What you will begin to see is an organized list of priorities.

Knowing what problem you are solving means you can find a niche in the market not currently occupied by your competition. It will help you decide on where to focus your first efforts.

Your success depends on others

The only thing as good as knowing what problem you are solving is knowing who you are solving it for. This is where you really zero in on the day-one customers: people who are going to see the value of your product and nod to themselves in that “aha” moment. These are your people. They see the same problem you did and they are in the market for a solution. If you solve the problem well for them, they will become some of your most loyal customers who will get the ball rolling on word-of-mouth later on.

Struggling to figure out who that customer might be? Hint: they are probably not much different from yourself (at least in the beginning). A good starting point is to think about what you or your friends would care about in this app.

You can also get to know these people by asking yourself a few questions:

• Who are these people?
• Where do they spend their time online? What other apps do they use?
• What matters most to them about this product?
• What would turn them into advocates for the product? What might turn them off?
• What features would they be looking for?
• How can we turn this into an experience that exceeds expectations?

These are just a few questions to get the ball rolling, but remember there is no substitute for actually talking with these potential customers. Having a real customer in mind as you decide on features will help you envision where this person might find value in your product.

Remember the old saying: If an app launches and no one is around to see it, did it even launch? The answer is no.

Being small is a feature — not a bug

Unless you are the next Quibi, I’m going to guess you are starting small. Shooting for the moon on day one and trying to be the next unicorn of the valley might be exciting, but experience tells me that can also be an expensive and unnecessary risk. Some things you still need to have at launch — if you’re an e-commerce app you still need to have a checkout flow, for example — but the “unique” features to the app (say, targeting a certain audience with recommendations) needs to have a firm understanding of how it stacks up against the competition. If you play to your unique point of view, you can create specific features that speak very directly to your audience. Being small is a feature at this stage –– not a bug.

In a recent startup we worked with, Sellebrate, it would have been easy for our client to say it was a Craigslist or OfferUp competitor — an online marketplace for used items. Sellebrate went narrow instead. They started by targeting the wedding industry first, offering curated selections of gently used items, selecting by themes, and even giving advice on how to decorate with items in the marketplace. Sellebrate spoke directly to their customer, creating a niche for them in the competitive landscape.

Knowing how your app compares to the competition is one of your greatest advantages in defining what features are baked in on day one. Play to your strengths as a small and nimble startup.

The rocket is moving, but you still haven’t left orbit

The first version of anything is always a little rough around the edges. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that ensures success. It can be a constant cycle of iterating, understanding your customers, and then iterating again until it starts gaining traction. Think of launching a rocketship: you are barreling forward at thousands of miles per hour, but have yet to break the Earth’s atmosphere.

Choosing to launch a digital product can be (and should be) an exciting time for any founder. But the first version is exactly that: the first version. It is the beginning of a much larger adventure. Try not to overthink the MVP (easier said than done, I know). Just get moving, do your best, and adjust things along the way.

And also… iterate, iterate, iterate.

P.S. If you want to learn more, I’m just an email away! Send me an email anytime.