How not to sell a car
The note was 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, at the request, and as a topic.
Marketing is not discussed here. It is believed that you imagine the idea, you understand who the service is for and how it will pay for itself and make a profit (not necessarily in money).
And so, how to develop a startup better?
')
Before the prototype, at least the following points should be formulated (important!):
Now the prototype is ready for design and layout. At the moment we have not spent a penny. Depending on your skills, you can order a layout of all screens or make yourself. At this stage it is important not to forget a few things:
And so, somewhere in 2 weeks (1 design and 1 layout) a html prototype was obtained from a paper or picture 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, fixes will already cost money, but not such as if you had to change the server code. This design scheme is designed to fix as much as possible at earlier stages of development, because the further, the more expensive.
At this stage, a complete sense of how the site will work in the future and how users will react to it is already being obtained. In particular, you can immediately begin to develop the second version of the service, if it is clear that when designing the first, much was not taken into account and it would not become profitable / popular.
At this point, you already have sufficiently developed prototypes of all pages, so you can count on the fixed and previously known cost of developing the first version.
What server technologies to choose? By and large, if it is open source, it does not matter. In programming, much more important are specific people / teams who are well aware of the technologies they use. If the technology is Microsoft and for sites (and not for Windows applications), then it is not worth it, because There are no special advantages, and with growth you will have to pay quite a lot.
I hope that using 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 issue for almost any entrepreneur. For well-formalized tasks (layout, testing) it is important to clearly define the problem and check. For designers and programmers, everything is somewhat more complicated, since In addition to the formal implementation of the TOR, there are many more options with the improvement or deterioration of project results in the future.
As a rule, to turn to professionals is ultimately cheaper than to beginners (fewer rework in the later stages, faster and share their experiences). If you are deliberately looking for the cheapest option, then you should be a professional in this in order to accept only a satisfactory option (and return for revision if something is not right).
I note that the article described the development of the service itself, and not the marketing site to it. With a marketing site about the same principle, but many of its nuances.
Marketing is not discussed here. It is believed that you imagine the idea, you understand who the service is for and how it will pay for itself and make a profit (not necessarily in money).
And so, how to develop a startup better?
')
Step-by-step plan for the effective launch of the first version:
Step 0. Prior to the prototype
Before the prototype, at least the following points should be formulated (important!):
- What problems does a startup solve?
- Who is the target audience of a startup?
- What is the success of the project (as specific as possible and with dates)?
- How is a startup going to make a profit?
- Would you have spent the money yourself (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 other).
- Day do not touch them
- Try it yourself, write down the notes, correct
- Show 2-3m your friends (better from Central Asia), write down the comments, correct
- Day do not touch them
- Try it yourself, write down the notes, correct
Step 2. 2nd prototype
Now the prototype is ready for design and layout. At the moment we have not spent a penny. Depending on your skills, you can order a layout of all screens or make 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
- design of various texts (lists, quotes, pictures with captions, tables)
- each form field and the form as a whole have the possibility of displaying an error (and hints if planned)
- separate messages about the success or failure of any action on any page
- pages 404 (file not found), 403 (access denied), 500 (server error), down (service closed for update)
- the minimum number of screens with all the necessary design elements (usually 2) is ordered from the designer
- according to the psd received from the designer, the layout designer makes all the screens
Step 3. Revision of the 2nd prototype
And so, somewhere in 2 weeks (1 design and 1 layout) a html prototype was obtained from a paper or picture 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:
- Do not touch the prototype day
- Try it yourself, write down the notes, correct
- Show your friends 2–3m (better from Central Asia, and others who have not wondered the first prototype), write down the comments, correct
- Day do not touch them
- Try it yourself, write down the notes, correct
At this stage, fixes will already cost money, but not such as if you had to change the server code. This design scheme is designed to fix as much as possible at earlier stages of development, because the further, the more expensive.
At this stage, a complete sense of how the site will work in the future and how users will react to it is already being obtained. In particular, you can immediately begin to develop the second version of the service, if it is clear that when designing the first, much was not taken into account and it would not become profitable / popular.
Step 4. Programming
At this point, you already have sufficiently developed prototypes of all pages, so you can count on the fixed and previously known cost of developing the first version.
What server technologies to choose? By and large, if it is open source, it does not matter. In programming, much more important are specific people / teams who are well aware of the technologies they use. If the technology is Microsoft and for sites (and not for Windows applications), then it is not worth it, because There are no special advantages, and with growth you will have to pay quite a lot.
Conclusion
I hope that using 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 issue for almost any entrepreneur. For well-formalized tasks (layout, testing) it is important to clearly define the problem and check. For designers and programmers, everything is somewhat more complicated, since In addition to the formal implementation of the TOR, there are many more options with the improvement or deterioration of project results in the future.
As a rule, to turn to professionals is ultimately cheaper than to beginners (fewer rework in the later stages, faster and share their experiences). If you are deliberately looking for the cheapest option, then you should be a professional in this in order to accept only a satisfactory option (and return for revision if something is not right).
I note that the article described the development of the service itself, and not the marketing site to it. With a marketing site about the same principle, but many of its nuances.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/107358/
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