If your plans for 2020 include finally getting an app off the ground, you may be feeling a little lost at the beginning. Breaking down the tasks into easy to manage actions makes the whole process much less daunting. Here’s how you can get started!

Before you can delve into the nitty-gritty of features, functionality, and design, you need to do a little research. As with any project, it pays to know the landscape and competition, so look at other popular apps in your niche. Check out review comments– what do users like or dislike? What features are popular? You could take this further and look at press coverage, update schedules, community management, and any other social media presence to start to build a picture of marketing tactics.

Your app should have a purpose or function. Drill down and determine exactly what that purpose is, and be specific! Does it solve a particular problem? Does it help with a certain task? This phase can be trickier than you may think, but it’s essential to not underestimate its importance. After this, you should be able to create an elevator pitch for your app which succinctly details its purpose, mission, and perhaps even its unique selling propositions (USPs) in a sentence or two.

The next step in your journey to app ownership is to put a little meat on the bones. Here, you’ll start to flesh out what your app will actually do, the features it should have, and the functionality that you want to offer your users. Refer back to your research and purpose throughout this part of the process to ensure that you remain on track and working towards your goal.

For your app to be successful, you’ll need to have a clear and polished action plan in place to market it. Thinking about this as early as possible, even before the app is designed, gives you a more realistic idea of what your project is going to cost in terms of time, budget, and other resources. You may need to request quotes from specialist agencies, such as social media experts, or source advertising rates from key websites or outlets.

Now to the exciting part! Design isn’t just a case of physically having the app built, it’s also important that you test, retest, and test again. Try to rope in volunteers from your target market at this stage to get their feedback on things like functionality and user experience.

The launch is the culmination of the first five stages. At this point, you should be feeling prepared, organized, and accomplished. Your marketing plan should already have been activated, so now it’s time to continue building a buzz, all the while listening to user feedback and reviewers eager for your first update.