It’s simple. Answer these questions in this order and a good idea will turn into an actionable, flashed out plan or you will realize that it sucks half way through, in which case you try something else.
What is the result you can expect and wish to have?
- Understand the high level goal for the business.
- Pro tip - be radically honest in this step, but don’t be evil - it always backfires.
Who are we building this for?
- Deeply understand the person who is going to buy and use the product and create a user persona.
- Pro tip - a good first user is yourself (or your old self) whom you definitely know very well. And you better make sure you know your user persona intimately - spend time thinking about their hopes and dreams, what makes them happy or sad, what are their values, good and bad habits etc.
- Remember that the buyer and the user can be different people.
- Estimate how many people might be in your audience or niche. This is known as reach.
What problem are we solving for this person?
- This is known as value proposition. Notice that the audience comes first and then we define the problem
- Pro tip - solve a single specific problem. That way your MVP will have a very clear value proposition and you will avoid spending a ton of time and money to ship a product only to find out that nobody wants it and you need to pivot.
How is this person solving the problem now?
- Also known as competitor analysis.
- You will often find that there is already a great solution in the market, and unless you can offer a significantly better deal go back to step 2 and find a new niche or a new value proposition.
- Pro tip - often your biggest competitors are pen and paper or excel.
How will you put your product in front of this person?
- This is your acquisition channel.
- You can make the best thing since sliced bread, but if no one hears about it no one will use it.
What is the minimum number of steps to achieve your goal?
- Also known as MVP.
- You will never know for sure if the product works until you put it in front of users so your first version should be laser focused on delivering on the value proposition as fast as possible.
How will you know if the product is successful?
- You need to be honest and precise in measuring the success of your product.
- Defining the success metrics comes before launching a product and not after.