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My app failed: lessons learned

rithm.app

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Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#101

Post by allenu »

kylebolt wrote: post #82
somenewaccount1 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like you are still working on learning distribution. I'm typing on a mac, but own an android. i still can't use or try your app :(

I thought failing on 1 platform would be more economical than failing on 2 :)

For mobile apps, if you're a single developer, I think going with a single platform is fine. You can only do so much, and if you're familiar with the platform, you can move much more quickly than having to support two. That's the strategy I've chosen and it's helped a lot because I was already an expert in iOS and a lot of the work is just "figuring out what users want" and it's easier to change your code on a single platform that you know really well.

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#102

Post by Retric »

canniballectern wrote: post #75
Retric wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Games generally take significant time to build sometimes years, but can be quite successful. You wider point is reasonable though as many people waste a lot of time building something that never gets traction.

Games are really easy to test viability for, though. The game has perfect information about itself, rarely connects in a complex way to anything outside the game, and it's easy to replicate the user's context just by sitting in a dark room on your own. The test is simple - is it fun? By contrast, most apps need to connect to people, software and things outside themselves - they're part of complex systems, and it's re…

It can take a long time to get enough of the game together to test fun vs not fun. Racing games for example can be play tested before the art is finished, but they are heavily dependent on subtle interactions between the tracks, cars, physics engine, and controls.

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#103

Post by blacktriangle »

rexreed wrote: post #15

Good lessons. But so many common mistakes To summarize: 1) Build something people really need, not a nice-to-have 2) Keeping customers is more important than just acquiring them 3) If you're not keeping your customers that means they don't want or need what you have 4) Changing people's behavior is really hard. Unless you have a significant amount of marketing budget, don't try to change people 5) "Distribution" is k…

Number 7 is a subtle but huge problem. I ran into this way back when I was trying to sell a small, education-focused GIS system I wrote as an alternative to the monstrosity that is ArcGIS. Students loved it since it was easy to use (only had maybe 5% of the functionality of ArcGIS, but it was the functionality that covered 90% of basic analysis.) The department heads I spoke to loved the idea since it was drastically cheaper than Arc, they could push the cost to the student (less than a textbook) rather than maintain ESRI contracts. The problem was that the decision maker, ie the real customer, was the professor, who did not experience either the ease of use benefits or care about the expense. As such I got nowhere with the product.

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#104

Post by marban »

jfengel wrote: post #34
rexreed wrote: post #15

Good lessons. But so many common mistakes To summarize: 1) Build something people really need, not a nice-to-have 2) Keeping customers is more important than just acquiring them 3) If you're not keeping your customers that means they don't want or need what you have 4) Changing people's behavior is really hard. Unless you have a significant amount of marketing budget, don't try to change people 5) "Distribution" is k…

Is it really realistic to build something people "need"? Humanity survived millions of years without a single piece of software; it's unlikely that anything you write is ever going to be a "need". People buy stuff they don't need all the time. Games and other entertainment are the very definition of "nice to have", and they're vast markets. Even business tools are usually not "needs" if all they do is improve an exis…

I would define "need" as per Reiss 16 Motives:

- Acceptance/Self-confidence - the need to be appreciated

- Curiosity, the need to gain knowledge

- Eating, the need for food - Family/Love, the need to take care of one’s offspring

- Honor, the need to be faithful to the customary values of an individual’s ethnic group, family or clan

- Idealism, the need for social justice

- Independence/Freedom, the need to be distinct and self-reliant

- Order, the need for prepared, established, and conventional environments

- Physical activity/Vitality, the need for work out of the body

- Power/Efficacy, the need for control of will

- Romance, the need for mating or sex

- Saving/Ownership, the need to accumulate something

- Social contact/Fun, the need for relationship with others

- Social status/Self-Importance, the need for social significance

- Tranquility/Safe, the need to be secure and protected

- Vengeance, the need to strike back against another person

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#105

Post by Axsuul »

dcolkitt wrote: post #32
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #21

Here's my take on selling: 1) Sell to people who can write the check, and have a budget to spend That's my entire advice. It seems obvious. If you're selling to an individual, choose a demographic with money to spend. And charge a price to fit into their budget. If you're selling to a team, don't. Sell to the person buying products/tools for the team, the one with signing authority. They make the ultimate decision. A…

This reminds me of the quote: "When a great team and product meets a lousy market, market usually wins. When a mediocre team and product meets a great market, market usually wins"

What does this mean?

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#106

Post by JoblessWonder »

Stack Rank reminds me of a mistake our owner made... We purchased a tall Sprinter van for mobile work. When we went to purchase a second, he asked for feedback/complaints and heard it was "blown around in heavy winds." To compensate, the next one they bought was not a tall model. No one wants to use it because being able to stand up straight while in the rear is much more important than the few times we drive in heavy winds. Had they stack ranked the feedback they would have seen that the complaint was small compared to the new issues they were creating.

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#108

Post by stingraycharles »

marban wrote: post #104
jfengel wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really realistic to build something people "need"? Humanity survived millions of years without a single piece of software; it's unlikely that anything you write is ever going to be a "need". People buy stuff they don't need all the time. Games and other entertainment are the very definition of "nice to have", and they're vast markets. Even business tools are usually not "needs" if all they do is improve an exis…

I would define "need" as per Reiss 16 Motives: - Acceptance/Self-confidence - the need to be appreciated - Curiosity, the need to gain knowledge - Eating, the need for food - Family/Love, the need to take care of one’s offspring - Honor, the need to be faithful to the customary values of an individual’s ethnic group, family or clan - Idealism, the need for social justice - Independence/Freedom, the need to be distinc…

But that only defines human needs, and not whether a specific app is a need and/or whether it’s just a nice to have.

I could make the best new social network, which addresses a need, but hardly anyone really needs another social network.

So how do I distinguish between a need or a nice to have within this context?

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#109

Post by marban »

stingraycharles wrote: post #108
marban wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would define "need" as per Reiss 16 Motives: - Acceptance/Self-confidence - the need to be appreciated - Curiosity, the need to gain knowledge - Eating, the need for food - Family/Love, the need to take care of one’s offspring - Honor, the need to be faithful to the customary values of an individual’s ethnic group, family or clan - Idealism, the need for social justice - Independence/Freedom, the need to be distinc…

But that only defines human needs, and not whether a specific app is a need and/or whether it’s just a nice to have. I could make the best new social network, which addresses a need, but hardly anyone really needs another social network. So how do I distinguish between a need or a nice to have within this context?

The process of getting from nice to have to need is called marketing.

Re: My app failed: lessons learned

#110

Post by throwinawaysoon »

rexreed wrote: post #15

Good lessons. But so many common mistakes To summarize: 1) Build something people really need, not a nice-to-have 2) Keeping customers is more important than just acquiring them 3) If you're not keeping your customers that means they don't want or need what you have 4) Changing people's behavior is really hard. Unless you have a significant amount of marketing budget, don't try to change people 5) "Distribution" is k…

8.In hindsight, it's easy to give advice to others on their flaws than making it a reality on your own. Making a list really sells it to people.

9.Stop making products, start writing personal development/marketing books that contain things that seem obvious in your head but you've never really tried it yourself.

10. Make your fluff seem as authentic as you can

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