How to Build It: Validating and Preparing to Build Your Product Idea

Andrew Davis
September 24, 2024
7 min read
How to Build It: Validating and Preparing to Build Your Product Idea

Welcome back to our series on Building Great Software. In the previous episodes, we discussed understanding your target subject and audience and whether you should build your product. Now, it’s time to dive into how you’re going to build it. This instalment focuses on the practical steps you can take to validate your assumptions, define your Proof of Concept (POC), and ultimately understand how you are going to develop your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Let’s get started.

Low-Cost Experiments to Validate Assumptions

Before you start writing code and invest heavily in development, it’s essential to validate your assumptions and market research through low-cost experiments. These experiments will help you gauge interest, refine your idea, and identify any potential pitfalls early on.

1. Stitching Existing Products Together:

One of the simplest ways to validate your concept is by using a combination of existing products or services to simulate the functionality you’re planning to build. This approach allows you to create a basic version of your product without the need for expensive development. You can provide this to a small group of early adopters to gather feedback and validate your concept.

2. Pre-Order Pages and Contact Collection:

Another effective strategy is to create pre-order pages or landing pages where potential customers can express interest in your product. This not only helps you validate demand but also allows you to collect valuable contact information for future marketing efforts. You can also survey these early users to gain insights into their needs and preferences before you start writing code.

3. Testing Pricing Options:

You can also test different pricing options as part of your pre-order strategy. By experimenting with various price points, you can identify your pricing sweet spot—where demand is strong, and your product’s perceived value is highest. This information is crucial for setting a price that appeals to your target market while ensuring profitability.

Defining Your Proof of Concept (POC)

Once you’ve validated your assumptions through low-cost experiments, the next step is to define your Proof of Concept (POC). The POC is a critical phase in the development process, as it allows you to test the feasibility of your idea before committing to full-scale development.

1. Bare Bones Development:

Your POC should focus on the most critical aspects of your technology. The goal is to determine whether your idea can be built and how to build it effectively. This stage is about confirming that your technical concepts works in practice—not just in theory.

2. Single or Multiple POCs:

Depending on the complexity of your product, you may need to conduct multiple POCs. Each POC should address a specific aspect of your product, whether it’s a particular feature, technology, or integration. The key here is to validate any uncertainties before moving to the MVP stage.

3. Avoiding Premature Development:

It’s important not to rush into full development before your POC has been validated. Many products fail because they move too quickly from concept to development without ensuring that the core idea is sound. Take the time to validate your concept thoroughly during the POC phase. Get your POCs into the hands of your Subject Matter Experts and your Early Adopters to provide valuable feedback on your idea.

Defining Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

After your experiments and POCs have provided the necessary validation, it’s time to define your MVP. The MVP is the first version of your product that you release to the market, with just enough features to satisfy early adopters, have them use your product in their daily lives, and provide feedback for future development.

1. Focus on the Essentials:

Be brutal in defining your MVP. Cut down your product to its absolute bare bones—only include the features that are essential to solving your customers’ problems. There’s no point in developing an MVP over 12-24 months; by the time you’re ready, the market will have moved on. Aim to get your MVP out within six months or less.

2. Budgeting for Development and Marketing:

Remember, the cost of developing your MVP isn’t the only expense you’ll incur. You also need to budget for marketing. If no one knows about your product, they won’t be able to sign up, use it, or provide feedback. Allocate sufficient resources to ensure that your MVP reaches your target audience effectively.

3. The Technology Stack:

You might have noticed that I haven’t mentioned much about the technology stack, cloud platform, mobile device flavour, or what type of AI to use. That’s because, while the technology is important, it’s only an enabler. The stack that you end up using will be highly dependent on what it is that you are building and the team that you have assembled to build it; more on that in the next episode. The most important thing is to validate that you have a product/market fit and that you understand what your prospective clients need—not just what you think they want.

Case Studies: Learning from Success and Failure

Let’s take a moment to look at two case studies—one that exemplifies success and another that serves as a cautionary tale.

Google Wave:
Google Wave is a prime example of a product that was built without first understanding if people needed or even understood the concept. Wave was a real-time communication platform that combined email, instant messaging, and collaboration. Despite its innovative features, it failed to gain traction because the target audience didn’t grasp its purpose, and it didn’t address a clear user need. The lesson here is to ensure that your product meets a specific demand and is easily understood by your audience. Just 15 months after it was launched, Wave was discontinued.

Instagram:
On the other hand, Instagram is a stellar example of a product built with a major focus on identifying and meeting a clear user need—sharing and discovering photos easily on mobile devices. The emphasis on simplicity and user experience, combined with a growing trend in social media, made it a standout product in a crowded market. Just 18 months after its launch, Instagram was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion. This success story underscores the importance of validating your product idea and aligning it with a clear market demand.

Kevin Systrom originally developed a location-based check-in app called Burbn, but it was too complicated and didn’t gain much traction. Noticing that users were mainly interested in the photo-sharing feature, Systrom and Mike Krieger decided to pivot and simplify the app, focusing exclusively on photo-sharing. They quickly developed a prototype for the new app, named Instagram, which featured a user-friendly interface for taking photos, applying filters, and sharing them easily. Instagram was initially launched on the iPhone, strategically targeting tech-savvy early adopters who were more likely to share their photos and attract new users.

Conclusion: Building with Purpose

To recap: Building your product isn’t just about coding and technology—it’s about validating your idea at every stage. Start with low-cost experiments to test your assumptions, then move on to a POC to confirm your idea’s feasibility. Finally, define your MVP based on the outcomes of your experiments and POCs, focusing on delivering the essential features that solve your customers’ problems.

In our next instalment, we’ll delve into “Who Is Building It?” We’ll explore how to form a team that can turn your idea into reality. Stay tuned as we continue this journey together.

Remember, the most important thing isn’t the technology—it’s ensuring that you have a product/market fit and understanding as much as possible about what your prospective clients want. See you in the next episode!

Andrew Davis