Now onto the fun stuff. How to get ideas for apps!

Stage 1. Ground Rules.

1. Remove all mental limitations on what you think an app can do. Google have built apps that map the entire world and Apple have built apps that map an entirely fictional world. Don’t let reality get in your way. Think like Yoda. Do or not do, there is no try.
2. For the purposes of this exercise remove the phrase “I don’t like that idea” – we want to avoid the trap of thinking about what we like and dislike. I dislike One Direction but do wish I was their manager.
3. Record all your thoughts. If at any point you say to yourself  I wish there was an app for that or you reach for your phone hoping it could do something take a note of it. Record it as a short audio note (hey, that’s a great app idea. Oh SoundCloud have done it already) then leave for a few hours and we go to stage 2

Stage 2. Filtering

Look at your list and mark them against the following criteria

• Does the app serve a purpose that I, and more importantly, others will find useful?
• Is there an existing app that does the same thing?
• If there is an app, can I improve it with a better idea?

The perfect idea would return [YES, NO, YES]

The still very good app but will need work to promote would return [YES, YES, YES]

The “I better be good at marketing” app – and if you are would return [YES, YES, NO]

The “I’m only doing it for myself” app returns [NO, NO, NO]

Here’s an example of what I’m doing with a few ideas I’m playing around with. This is from a UK perspective so there may be variations in my research to yours. Remember that this is from my skills and experience. What I want to produce will differ from you.

An exercise app

Does it serve a purpose? Definite yes. Its New Year and we’re all getting fat…

Are there existing apps? Definite yes

Can I improve it? Definite yes, I’ve worked in the fitness industry and have ideas that would elevate my apps above the competition

VERDICT: Let’s do it once I find a nice niche to work in

Sound recorder app

Does it serve a purpose? Definite yes. Very useful feature for notetaking.

Are there existing apps? Definite yes

Can I improve it? Definite no. There are some really cool sound recorder apps and I don’t have a killer idea to make them better

VERDICT: Skip for now

Games

Does it serve a purpose? YES! Fun and timewasting.

Are there existing apps? YES!

Can I improve it? Again, no. I don’t have fresh ideas and the market is saturated with games.

VERDICT: Definitely avoid

Dog Lost App

Does it serve a purpose? Yes. Dogs get lost all the time and a better way of alerting people needs to be implemented. Saves on council warden costs so benefits everyone

Are there existing apps? Yes, but one or two which are terrible

Can I improve it? Most definitely.

VERDICT: Definitely do. In fact, done and working on v2 :)

And so on. The important thing is not censor your ideas. You need to let rip, record everything you think and allow your creativity to flourish. Only then do you filter down and prioritise.

It might be a bit too much to process so I’m going to document how I do this with my next project

Diet App

Does it serve a purpose. Yes, see exercise above and the turkey overload (it’s Christmas)

Are there existing apps? Yes, plenty, but I have advantages in that I work in the fitness industry

Can I improve it? Yes. By simplifying diet process and adding a few nice social features

What do we do next

Time to think up your own app as I’ll show you the many ways to make money from an app, how to get the app built, then onto the marketing.