How not to sell a car
The note is inspired by the post Help, otherwise I will soon go crazy (real story, real development of the project) , then it was published as a comment, and now, upon request, and as a topic.
Marketing is not discussed here. It is believed that you imagine the idea, understand who the service is designed for and how it will pay for itself and make a profit (not necessarily in money).
And so, how is better to develop a startup?
Prior to the prototype, the following points should be formulated in writing (important!) At least:
Now the prototype is ready for design and layout. At the moment, we have not spent a dime. Depending on your skills, you can order the layout of all screens or do it yourself. At this stage, it is important not to forget a few things:
And so, somewhere in 2 weeks (1 design and 1 layout) from a paper or picture prototype we got an html prototype. Now it needs to be placed somewhere. If there is no hosting, then you can use something like narod.ru. Further, this prototype is also tested:
At this stage, corrections will already cost money, but not the same as if you had to change the server code. Such a development scheme was made in order to fix as much as possible at the earlier stages of development, as the farther, the more expensive.
At this stage, you already get a full-fledged feeling of how the site will work in the future and how users will respond to it. In particular, you can immediately start developing the second version of the service, if it is clear that when designing the first one, a lot was not taken into account and it won’t become profitable / popular.
At this point, you already have well-developed prototypes of all pages, so you can count on a fixed and well-known cost of developing the first version.
What server technologies to choose? By and large, if it is open source, then it does not matter. In programming, specific people / teams who know the technology they use are much more important. If Microsoft technologies are for sites (and not for Windows applications), then it’s not worth it, because There are no special pluses, and with growth you will have to pay a lot.
I hope that with these simple steps you do not have to sell the car as the author of the topic-inspiration.
How to choose a team? This is a complex and fundamental question for almost any entrepreneur. For well formalized tasks (layout, testing), a clear statement of the problem and verification are important. For designers and programmers, everything is somewhat more complicated, because in addition to the formal implementation of the ToR there are many more options with improving or worsening project results in the future.
As a rule, turning to professionals is ultimately cheaper than to novices (fewer alterations in the later stages, faster and sharing their experiences). If you are deliberately looking for the cheapest option, you should be professional in order to accept only the satisfactory option (and return for improvements if something is wrong).
I note that the article talked about the development of the service itself, and not the marketing site for it. With a marketing site about the same principle, but a lot of its own nuances.
Marketing is not discussed here. It is believed that you imagine the idea, understand who the service is designed for and how it will pay for itself and make a profit (not necessarily in money).
And so, how is better to develop a startup?
A step-by-step plan for the effective launch of the first version:
Step 0. Before the prototype
Prior to the prototype, the following points should be formulated in writing (important!) At least:
- What problems does a startup solve?
- Who is the startup target audience?
- What is the success of the project (most specifically and with dates)?
- How is a startup going to make a profit?
- Would you spend the money on this (for paid services)?
Step 1. 1st prototype
- Do the first version of the prototype on paper or in Balsamic Mockups . The prototype of all screens and all basic states (for complex screens with Ajax and others).
- Day do not touch them
- Try to use it yourself, write down comments, correct
- Show 2-3m to your friends (better from CA), write down comments, correct
- Day do not touch them
- Try to use it yourself, write down comments, correct
Step 2. 2nd prototype
Now the prototype is ready for design and layout. At the moment, we have not spent a dime. Depending on your skills, you can order the layout of all screens or do it yourself. At this stage, it is important not to forget a few things:
- explicit list of supported browsers
- logo (you can not order separately, something simple)
- favicon
- registration of various texts (lists, quotes, pictures with signatures, tables)
- each field of the form and the form as a whole has the ability to display errors (and tips if planned)
- Separate messages about the success or failure of some actions on any page
- pages 404 (file not found), 403 (access denied), 500 (server error), down (service closed for updating)
- the designer orders the minimum number of screens with all the necessary design elements (usually 2)
- on received from the designer psd typesetter makes all screens
Step 3. Finalization of the 2nd prototype
And so, somewhere in 2 weeks (1 design and 1 layout) from a paper or picture prototype we got an html prototype. Now it needs to be placed somewhere. If there is no hosting, then you can use something like narod.ru. Further, this prototype is also tested:
- Day to the prototype do not touch
- Try to use it yourself, write down comments, correct
- Show your friends 2-3m (better from Central Asia, and others who did not marvel at the first prototype), write down comments, correct
- Day do not touch them
- Try to use it yourself, write down comments, correct
At this stage, corrections will already cost money, but not the same as if you had to change the server code. Such a development scheme was made in order to fix as much as possible at the earlier stages of development, as the farther, the more expensive.
At this stage, you already get a full-fledged feeling of how the site will work in the future and how users will respond to it. In particular, you can immediately start developing the second version of the service, if it is clear that when designing the first one, a lot was not taken into account and it won’t become profitable / popular.
Step 4. Programming
At this point, you already have well-developed prototypes of all pages, so you can count on a fixed and well-known cost of developing the first version.
What server technologies to choose? By and large, if it is open source, then it does not matter. In programming, specific people / teams who know the technology they use are much more important. If Microsoft technologies are for sites (and not for Windows applications), then it’s not worth it, because There are no special pluses, and with growth you will have to pay a lot.
Conclusion
I hope that with these simple steps you do not have to sell the car as the author of the topic-inspiration.
How to choose a team? This is a complex and fundamental question for almost any entrepreneur. For well formalized tasks (layout, testing), a clear statement of the problem and verification are important. For designers and programmers, everything is somewhat more complicated, because in addition to the formal implementation of the ToR there are many more options with improving or worsening project results in the future.
As a rule, turning to professionals is ultimately cheaper than to novices (fewer alterations in the later stages, faster and sharing their experiences). If you are deliberately looking for the cheapest option, you should be professional in order to accept only the satisfactory option (and return for improvements if something is wrong).
I note that the article talked about the development of the service itself, and not the marketing site for it. With a marketing site about the same principle, but a lot of its own nuances.