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My friend and I are currently developing an iPhone app, it's very challenging and we may have to outsource the development of some core features, which is going to cost a lot.

the problem is that we still haven't determined if the idea is worth developing. does it provide a real value to users? are they willing to pay? and how much?

so what we have in mind is to have bloggers(smartphone app reviewers) write about our still in development app and see the blog reaction to it.

is this a good way to find out?(can you recommend a good blogger?) would you recommend a better way?

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4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

To begin with, there is no sure way of testing how strong demand is for a new product. If we had figured that out, then there would be no risk whatsoever in starting your own business.

Why do you need smartphone app reviewers? They may focus on the technical aspects of your application or on small details.

At this point, I think that what you need to do is to figure out whether you have a good idea or not. To that end, I would simply talk to potential end users of my app and figure out if they'd like to use it and even pay for it. Once you I have that information, then I would talk to experts about the technical stuff.

Good luck.

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+1 especially on "If we had figured that out, then there would be no risk whatsoever in starting your own business." – Jason Sep 9 '10 at 1:06
Although I agree that if we could determine demand, we could dramatically reduce risk, I disagree with the statement "If we had figured that out, then there would be no risk whatsoever in starting your own business". Even if we could determine demand there will still be some risk involved. You will still have technical risks, among other risks. I bet there's a big demand for time machines, yet technically it's impossible - making it an extremely risky proposition. Nonetheless, you gave some good advice, +1. – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Sep 11 '10 at 23:42
up vote 3 down vote

If you need opinion of other people, then you have to ask them.

I doubt that your idea of asking bloggers is good, because:

a) people reviewing iPhone apps review apps, not ideas for apps, so they'll be unlikely to write about your idea

b) you won't get high-quality feedback from blog comments

Some alternatives:

a) describe the idea to real people, ask them for feedback. Your friends, family, coworkers, complete strangers

b) describe the idea here and ask for feedback. There are other forums that have community that might give you good feedback, like http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/?biz or http://news.ycombinator.com/

c) describe the idea in a blog post and explicitly ask for feedback

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up vote 2 down vote

Possibly offer a fee app without some of the core features. Link it to a web portal that describes the full app and see if you receive any inquires asking when the full app will be available. This will tell you if people are interested or not.

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up vote 0 down vote

Using surveys with incentives[1] is a great way to do some research. You need to send the survey out to the right lists that represent your target audience (you'll need to buy the list(s)).

You can use companies like Marketo or Constant Contact to run your survey. Constant Contact is pretty cheap. You'll probably want to experiment with different incentives and different messaging for your survey to see what resonates well with your audience.

Good luck.

[1] Win an iPad, win one of ten $50 Amazon gift cards, whatever.

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Surveys can be useful if well structured, but people can also be more positive and indicate that they would buy even if they wouldn't if they had to put cash down then and there. You will get the most honest feedback from people if you ask them to buy. – Susan Jones Sep 21 '10 at 3:16

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