Market Research

This is an essential step in the creation process and if done wrong, can condemn your app to failure as you haven't done your homework. This step is basically the research that you need to do to understand which apps exist so that you learn about the successful apps and the apps with obvious mistakes. Even if you encounter a bad app you will learn from their mistakes and that is key in the research process.

To do this research, first look at all the apps which are similar to your concept/idea which exist in the Apple Store. Note the advantages and disadvantages of each one and how your app can incorporate some of the useful features of the successful apps.

Secondly, you need to consider the capabilities of the iPhone so that your app fully utilises the hardware of the iPhone and how the user will interact with the app. It is very useful to download and play as many apps as you can which are similar to your proposed app because you quickly learn about how you can organise information, which menus are easy to use and how apps use the swipe, expand and rotate functions. Reviewing apps (especially the top 25 apps) will vastly increase your knowledge of how your app can look and which apps already exist in your field.

Determining your Market
Once you have your interesting concept for an app and have some ideas about the features that can be included, you need to bare in mind the type of people you're trying to target for this app. To do this, think about what the app can offer people. If, say, the app is a calendar organiser then the market may be middle aged people who lack much time for organisation.

Think about the following questions:

• Which features of the app will benefit your target audience?
• How can people they relate to the app?
• Ultimately, will your intended target audience enjoy using the app?

Recommended Link: iPhone App Creation Guide