I have an idea for an app. I actually used this idea for my UX prototype course and everyone I show people the idea they say it’s a great and I should move forward with it.

So how do I get this built on the cheap?

Any ideas are welcome. I’m not looking for donations but it may be something that could be kickstarted once I get the presentation together.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Best way, an actual pro company.

________________________________
There are dozens of us! Dozens!

what you got? inbox me I promise I won't steal your idea fam.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

Feedback would be greatly appreciated as I am in the "dreamer" stage of wanting to put an app out.

************************************************************

Nigga, if the shoe fits, then buy the matching purse!" Rass Kass

not making big promises on how useful or not my input will be but I'm happy to see what I got for you.

I am meeting some folks who have successfully navigated the whole thing. learning as much as I can before setting out to try building it.

One of the first things I was planning to do was a deck describing the app. I was thinking I can even begin to hire developers without having a clear vision for the app (or even to pitch to a tech/developer person to partner with me).


Subscribes to this post.

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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

i'd shoot for mid tier if i were you lol cheap will liikely cost you as much as mid tier in the long run anyway. you want a shot at getting high quality, clean, maintainable code. especially if this is going to be the foundational code that future iterations will be built on top of. with cheap you run the risk of needing another developer to come in and either clean up or rewrite the entire code base in the future. if the idea is as good as folks are saying you wanna think slightly past the MVP. if you have a prototype i would suggest looking for an actual technical founder instead of just hiring someone to code. that way they have some actual skin in the game.

but honestly, before i would even develop it, i would throw up a landing page to get folks to sign up to be notified when it launches or do it waitlist style for the beta. that way you can begin to tease out if there is a real demand for what you are building before you spend time and money building it. write a medium article about the prototype and the process building it and then either include a sign up for the email list at the bottom or direct them to your landing page. you can build a landing page fairly quickly using webflow.

as for where to find a technical founder, you probably already have someone in your network. i would start there first. you have to put your idea out there. trust me no one is going to steal it (ideas are easy. the execution part is the hurdle that only a few can jump.) you want as many people to help validate the idea for you as you can. keeping it close isn't going to help with that. so i would say start telling people in your network about it. tell them you are looking for a technical cofounder and to keep an eye out. go to events and meetups that are tech focused and chat with folks. also check out the indiehackers forum. i'm sure there are a bunch of threads about finding a technical cofounder.

excuse any typos. on my phone.

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

Don’t ever let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

also you may want to check this out:

https://bubble.is/
https://bubble.is/learnmore

i haven't used it before but i've seen it mentioned on indiehackers. with it you maybe able to build out a MVP yourself. even if you go this route, I still suggest getting a technical cofounder sooner rather than later. if you build something out yourself using a tool like this, when it does come time to bring a technical cofounder on board, you will have something really solid to show them and probably will put you in a good negotiating position. on the flipside, doing it yourself takes time lol

edit: i think bubble is for webapps though...so if you are building a mobile app it's probably not a viable option.

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

It's useful and fairly straightforward once you get used to it

Also I second the part about the landing page. Getting presales is the best way to tell that this won't be a complete waste of your time. Short of that, an email list of interested people is good too.

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

I talk about it with a lot of people in person and there seems to be an interest.

I have been thinking about it the way you suggest, looking for a tech founder from the start. I have a few meetings after labor day to try and find that person.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

>I talk about it with a lot of people in person and there
>seems to be an interest.

that is definitely a good indicator. if you wanna inbox me (or post it here) i'd be happy to give you my thoughts.


>I have been thinking about it the way you suggest, looking for
>a tech founder from the start. I have a few meetings after
>labor day to try and find that person.

did you end up having these meetings? i'm assuming the chat with your friend below was part of this. i still think finding a tech founder as early as possible is a win but the hard part is finding the right one. but like your friend said, there is a lot you can do while trying to find that partner. the tools out here now make it so much easier than in the past but at the same time....we are so saturated with SAAS products and apps that it is incredibly hard to break through the noise. we live in the best of times and the worst of times lol

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

the technical ish is amazingly important, and i can't underline the part about the importance of your MVP (minimum viable product) being as clean and foundational as possible. it would be super helpful if you have someone in your circle who can do IT / Application Architecture and talk to them about your requirements (what the app needs to do), and your future plans (how the app should grow). and translate those things into the requirements doc used by the developer / team.

w/ my son's app, he and his partner had a fabulous idea, and they worked with a contract developer who built almost exactly what they asked for. (inputs -> outputs). but the very important shit in the middle was wild haphazard, so any extension beyond the original MVP version requires damn near a whole rewrite. (fwiw, i've seen this in multimillion dollar enterprise software projects, also. it's a common pitfall).

but back to the monetization piece. that's really, really key. how do you plan to get bread? and how is what you're planning differ from what anyone else in the market is doing?

we got jerked around effing w/ some VC's for about a year, but six hundred plus pages of documentation later, we came out of it with a much better monetization scheme.

we've since found a potential development partner. now we just in the situation of needing a medium amount of change in order to get the next version of the app out the door.

to the extent that i got time, hit me up, and i'll offer whatever advice i can.


>i'd shoot for mid tier if i were you lol cheap will liikely
>cost you as much as mid tier in the long run anyway. you want
>a shot at getting high quality, clean, maintainable code.
>especially if this is going to be the foundational code that
>future iterations will be built on top of. with cheap you run
>the risk of needing another developer to come in and either
>clean up or rewrite the entire code base in the future. if the
>idea is as good as folks are saying you wanna think slightly
>past the MVP. if you have a prototype i would suggest looking
>for an actual technical founder instead of just hiring someone
>to code. that way they have some actual skin in the game.
>
>but honestly, before i would even develop it, i would throw up
>a landing page to get folks to sign up to be notified when it
>launches or do it waitlist style for the beta. that way you
>can begin to tease out if there is a real demand for what you
>are building before you spend time and money building it.
>write a medium article about the prototype and the process
>building it and then either include a sign up for the email
>list at the bottom or direct them to your landing page. you
>can build a landing page fairly quickly using webflow.
>
>as for where to find a technical founder, you probably already
>have someone in your network. i would start there first. you
>have to put your idea out there. trust me no one is going to
>steal it (ideas are easy. the execution part is the hurdle
>that only a few can jump.) you want as many people to help
>validate the idea for you as you can. keeping it close isn't
>going to help with that. so i would say start telling people
>in your network about it. tell them you are looking for a
>technical cofounder and to keep an eye out. go to events and
>meetups that are tech focused and chat with folks. also check
>out the indiehackers forum. i'm sure there are a bunch of
>threads about finding a technical cofounder.
>
>excuse any typos. on my phone.
>
>


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

not even to make $$ but to improve my day to day with IOT shit. or even something like if my apple watch disconnects from my iphone give me a buzz. handful of times i've gone somewhere only to find i left my phone at home, work or wherever i was last. wish my watch would just vibrate to let me know it no longer can communicate with my phone

--sig--
n/a

A well-built, responsive website can handle many of the basics that an app does, is cheaper to develop and extends to the computer as well. No need for end users to update since there's only one existing version.

Downsides are you can't sell it, only things through it. Users aren't as committed, and if you're building a game or anything else with heavy graphics you'll want an app.

>A well-built, responsive website can handle many of the
>basics that an app does, is cheaper to develop and extends to
>the computer as well. No need for end users to update since
>there's only one existing version.
>
>Downsides are you can't sell it, only things through it. Users
>aren't as committed, and if you're building a game or anything
>else with heavy graphics you'll want an app.

but this is useful info.

Now you got me thinking.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Still might be too techy for me but I wanted to share:

Wireframe on paper or inside an app like Balsamiq;

Load up your wireframes inside InVision and download the app on your phone to test UX flows and see if navigation makes sense etc.

Once you're done, you show it to a few friends / iterate a bit on it,

Then you may be ready for the actual design of the app, where you basically design the pixel perfect version of your rough wireframes. You would need to find a designer (plenty of them on Upworks) but, in order to better onboard them, I would recommend you to have a sense of the brand / color / style guide. It will make them a lot more effective.

And finally, that is when you start thinking about potentially building it with the help of a developer. Finding the platform (iOS, Android? both?) and the language behind (native inside each framework, common language like ReactNative?) are fairly important decisions that you have to take with scalability in mind (especially if you are dealing with videos).


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

so the wireframes and prototype are the easy part.

Building it on a platform is the hard part.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Just trying to figure out the going rate for barebones stuff.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

i would say if you do outsource someone to build the wireframes, prototype and conduct user testing....it still would be worthwhile for you to do the initial sketching on paper. it will help you really flesh your thoughts out and what is actually possible. it is will be a great guide for whomever you end up hiring as well.

paper and pencil is great for stuff like this because it's not complicated and let's you get your ideas out fast. you are more likely to try new things on paper since it is so quick to write an idea down than in some tool. it is amazing how ideas come about. i've had so many ideas that i hadn't thought about come about just from the sketching process.

here is a good article on paper prototyping with some resources:

https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/paper-prototyping-the-practical-beginners-guide/

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

I would like to write out an overlong response

but instead, I'll just say from a strategic perspective you should check all the boxes before going down this path

apps are amazing. apps are a fuckload of work. sometimes a mobile web based solution might be the ticket.

before you begin consider doing some leg work in the realm of case studies, business models, customer acquisition, etc

its just a simple look before you leap sort of thing



by the way, you could go two ways about this, you can just pay someone or you could hit the meetup/hackathon scene and find someone who can work with you/for you in exchange for some equity

***********************************************************
https://soundcloud.com/swageyph/yph-die-with-me

but maybe a mobile site would do the same thing and be more stable.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

***********************************************************
https://soundcloud.com/swageyph/yph-die-with-me

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

***********************************************************
https://soundcloud.com/swageyph/yph-die-with-me

____________

DALLAS LAKERICKS LETS GO!!

You did see the social network, right?
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

Real question..


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

it depends on what you're trying to do.

for my (side) business, where i do application development, and process automation and integration for small businesses, i use platform based apps. this is great if you just want the functionality.

i have kind of a bastardized model, where i can get a user license at a very low cost, and kinda sublet that. and then i build the customer's functionality on the platform, and charge a small fee for that.

adoption has been slow, because, almost by definition, i'm going after folks who have very limited understanding of technology. (think anyone in a services business like landscapers, painters, home restoration, plumbing, and others).

i can give them an app that does EXACTLY what they need (but i limit the scope within reason and will say if i can't do something) for around $200 at minimum, and around $45 / mth, per user / work crew.

case in point, i got to do an update today for a dude in carrborro that has a landscaping company. i had done an app for him a year ago so he can:

- take before and after pictures of yards
- capture date and timestamp, and GPS location of the job
- select customers (and prepopulate all the customer contact, address and billing info, including specialized pricing) from just selecting the customer name
- create invoice on job completion
- email it to customer w/ paypal link**
- track which of his workers did the work

first time he did that, he texted me saying, "i can't believe it. i cut this lady's yard in chapel hill and pushed the button. 5 minutes later, before i even got in my truck and left the home, i got a notification that i got paid via paypal".

dude recently hit me up and asked if i could do a timecard app for him. b/c he be on some hustleman shit, and has several folks that work for him, cutting yards w/ his truck and equipment. he had a suspicion that they were doing side jobs and stuff.

so i quickly put together an app for timecards, where they can log in and tracks start time, end time, breaks, meals (also w/ GPS and date and timestamp capture).

so i gave him a discount on that and did it for $150, and threw in, for $50 more, a dashboard, that i'm building in google sheets, that will show him the status of the day's jobs, as it will be updated in realtime from the results of the app submissions.

so for a total investment of $450 (plus the subscription of $40 / month) he'll be able to protect his company from customer complaints and disputes (nope, we did that, here's the GPS and timestamp and photos as proof), as well as enable him to quickly onboard new workers (you can make certain job steps mandatory via the app), AND protect against dudes doing side jobs w/ his equipment, AND manage all of it via his phone while he's on his day job.


^^^ in all of the above, a lot of the components are available to him. but he'd be paying $50 / month for the subscription. the company *might* do one app for free, but would not have my understanding of his requirements, nor commitment to maintain and add minor changes, gratis. and he wouldn't get the API integration to sheets or other process automation or application integration approaches which add substantial value to the data that he's generating with each job performed.






peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

taking my biz to the next level in 2019..

and there may be interim steps that need to be taken.

inboxing is free, till 8.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad