Mobile App Development – Product/Market fit

Here at Applicable, being New Zealand app and software development specialists, we are often approached by people who have an idea for an App. They have often been inspired by their own frustrations in their industry or another aspect of their life. Whilst we have a passion for creating Apps and perfecting their design, we also feel its very important to consult with our clients on product/market fit. Determining whether your app fits the market goes most of the way to ensure its success.

So how do you determine product market fit for your mobile application idea?

Understand who your target customer is

Knowing who your ideal or target customer is will go a long way to helping your app development project succeed. In marketing we look at customer “archetypes” and personas to develop a profile on who our customers are. When you have found this out you will have a good understanding of who you are building your mobile app for. Whether you are building for Android or iOS platforms or both, you will need to have a clear understanding of this.

Research the market

When you have understood who your customer is, the next step is to go out to your market and ask questions to determine your customers pain points. You can then make sure in your app design and development you are solving the right problems and delivering a mobile application that will provide the greatest value.

Investigate your competitors

Knowing who your competition is and what they provide is vital. When you know what else is out there you can think about what is your unique selling point. What are you giving your customers that your competition don’t provide? It is a great idea to go to the Android play app and the Apple iOS app store to research what customers are searching for. See what Apps you will be competing with. Even download them and play around with the app to investigate their UX design and see what you can do better.

How did you do? Measure your results

Measuring your data to see if you have succeeded with your mobile application project is important. A great way to do this is by finding out your total addressable market (TAM). This is the total number of people that would benefit from your app and are therefore potential customers. You need to multiply your average revenue per user by the total number of potential users in your market. After you have found this out you can then find out what percentage of your TAM are already customers.

At Applicable we have worked with businesses and startups in Auckland, NZ and worldwide to help them develop successful mobile apps both for Android and iOS platforms. We like to consult with our clients to ensure they have looked into their product/market fit. We have worked with companies that have successfully achieved this. A great example of this is a Passive Fire mobile app that  focused on a specific vertical after seeing a gap in the market. Have a look at some of our work here.

Contact us today for a free consultation, we love chatting to people about their ideas.