Over 90% of mobile apps fail within their first year—and most of those failures could have been prevented by asking the right questions before writing a single line of code. That's a sobering statistic that I've watched play out countless times in my years working with app developers, entrepreneurs, and established businesses. The graveyard of failed apps isn't filled with poorly coded software; it's packed with ideas that never should have become apps in the first place.
Building a mobile app isn't like putting together a piece of furniture where you can just follow the instructions and hope for the best. It requires proper app feasibility questions, thorough mobile app planning, and honest pre-development analysis. Yet most people skip straight to the fun stuff—choosing colours, designing screens, picking features—without doing the groundwork that determines whether their app will succeed or join that 90% failure rate.
The best time to kill a bad app idea is before you've spent any money on it
That's where this guide comes in. Before you start dreaming about App Store rankings or counting potential downloads, you need to answer seven critical questions that will determine your app's viability. These aren't the sort of questions that have quick, easy answers—they require real thought, honest self-reflection, and sometimes uncomfortable truths about your idea. But getting them right early on can save you months of development time, thousands of pounds, and the heartbreak of launching something nobody wants.
Why Does Your App Need to Exist
Before you write a single line of code or sketch your first wireframe, you need to answer the most fundamental question of all: why does your app need to exist? This isn't about having a cool idea or thinking you can make some quick money—it's about understanding whether there's a genuine need for what you're building.
The mobile app market is absolutely saturated. There are millions of apps available across different app stores, and most of them fail to gain any meaningful traction. The harsh reality is that building an app just because you think it would be nice to have one is a recipe for disappointment. You need a compelling reason that goes beyond personal preference.
What Makes an App Worth Building
A successful app exists because it fills a gap that people actually care about. It might solve a frustrating problem, make something easier, or provide entertainment that people genuinely want. The key word here is "genuinely"—not what you think people want, but what they actually need or desire.
Consider these questions when evaluating your app's reason for existence:
- Does this solve a real problem that people face regularly?
- Would people actively seek out this solution?
- Is there demand that isn't being properly met by existing apps?
- Will people find this valuable enough to download and keep using?
If you cannot answer these questions convincingly, you might need to rethink your approach. The best apps exist because they make people's lives better in some measurable way—whether that's saving time, reducing stress, providing entertainment, or solving a specific problem that keeps coming up in their daily routine.
Who Will Actually Use Your App
This is where most people get it completely wrong. They think they know who their users are, but they're really just guessing. I see it all the time—someone builds an app for "everyone" or for "people aged 18-65 who own smartphones." That's not a target audience, that's wishful thinking!
Your app needs real people with real problems, not imaginary users you've created in your head. Start by getting specific about who these people are. What do they do for work? How old are they? What frustrates them daily? Where do they spend their time online? What other apps are they already using?
Research Before You Build
Don't just sit in a room making assumptions. Go out and talk to potential users—actual human beings, not your mum or your best mate (unless they genuinely fit your target market). Use surveys, social media polls, or even quick street interviews. Ask them about their current pain points and how they're solving problems right now.
Pay attention to the difference between who you think will use your app and who actually needs it. Sometimes these groups don't overlap at all. The fitness app you're designing for busy professionals might actually be perfect for stay-at-home parents instead.
Size Matters
Make sure your target audience is big enough to support your app but small enough that you can reach them effectively. If only twelve people in the world would benefit from your app, that's a problem. But if your audience is too broad, you won't be able to market to them properly or design features they'll love.
Create user personas with names, ages, jobs, and specific problems. Then ask yourself: would these exact people actually download and use your app regularly?
What Problem Are You Really Solving
This is where things get interesting—and where most app ideas fall apart. You might think your app solves a problem, but does it really? Or are you just creating a digital solution for something that doesn't actually need fixing?
Let's be honest here. Too many apps get built because someone thought "wouldn't it be cool if..." rather than "people are struggling with this specific thing, and here's how we can help." There's a massive difference between those two starting points, and it shows in the success rates.
The Real Problem Test
Here's what you need to figure out: is the problem you're solving actually painful enough that people will change their behaviour to use your app? Because that's what you're asking them to do—download something new, learn how it works, and make it part of their routine.
Think about the problems that successful apps solve. They're usually things that genuinely frustrated people before the solution existed. Banking apps solved the problem of queuing at branches; food delivery apps solved the problem of cooking when you can't be bothered; fitness apps solved the problem of expensive gym memberships.
Common Problem-Solving Mistakes
Watch out for these traps when defining your problem:
- Solving a problem that only affects you and your mates
- Creating a problem that doesn't really exist just to have something to solve
- Assuming people want a digital solution when they're happy with the analogue one
- Trying to solve too many problems at once
- Fixing something that's already been fixed brilliantly by someone else
The best way to validate your problem is simple—talk to people who aren't your friends or family. Ask them about their current struggles with whatever area your app addresses. If they light up and start complaining, you might be onto something. If they shrug and say "it's fine," you probably need to keep looking.
How Will You Make Money
This is where things get interesting—and often uncomfortable. Many app creators get so excited about their brilliant idea that they forget to ask themselves the most basic business question: how exactly am I going to turn this into money? I've seen countless apps that solve real problems and have genuine users, but their creators never properly thought through the monetisation strategy.
There are several ways to make money from mobile apps, and choosing the right one depends on your audience and what your app actually does. You could charge people upfront to download your app, though this is getting harder to pull off unless you're offering something truly special. Subscription models work well for apps that provide ongoing value—think fitness tracking, productivity tools, or streaming services. Then there's advertising, which can work if you have lots of users spending significant time in your app.
Beyond the Obvious Revenue Streams
Don't overlook less obvious approaches like in-app purchases, premium features, or even using your app as a lead generation tool for other services. Some apps make money by collecting valuable data (ethically and legally, of course) or by facilitating transactions between other parties.
The biggest mistake I see is entrepreneurs who think they'll figure out monetisation after they build the app and get users
Your revenue model should influence everything from your app's design to your marketing strategy. If you're planning to rely on advertising, you need to design for engagement and retention. If you're going the subscription route, you need to demonstrate ongoing value. Working this out early isn't just good business sense—it's part of your app viability assessment that will determine whether your project is worth pursuing at all.
What Makes You Different from Everyone Else
Right, here's where things get interesting—and a bit uncomfortable if I'm honest. You need to work out what makes your app special. Not just good, but genuinely different from everything else out there.
I see so many people skip this step. They build an app that does something useful, launch it, then wonder why nobody downloads it. The problem? There are already dozens of apps doing the same thing, often better and with bigger marketing budgets.
Finding Your Unique Edge
Your difference doesn't have to be revolutionary—it just needs to matter to your users. Maybe your fitness app works offline when others don't. Perhaps your recipe app focuses on 15-minute meals whilst competitors share complex dishes. Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest impact.
Here are the main ways apps stand out from the crowd:
- Solving the same problem but for a specific group of people
- Making something faster, simpler, or cheaper than existing options
- Combining features that currently exist in separate apps
- Taking a completely different approach to the user experience
- Offering better customer support or community features
Testing Your Difference
Once you think you've found your angle, test it. Ask potential users what they currently use and why they might switch. If they shrug or seem confused, you haven't found your difference yet. Keep digging until you can explain in one sentence why someone would choose your app over the competition.
Without this clarity, you're just adding to the noise in the app stores. With it, you've got a fighting chance of building something people actually want to download.
Do You Have the Right Resources
Right, let's talk about the elephant in the room—money, time, and people. Building a mobile app isn't just about having a brilliant idea; you need the resources to actually make it happen. And I'm not just talking about the development costs, though those are significant.
Most people think about the upfront costs—hiring developers, designers, maybe a project manager. But there's so much more. You'll need money for app store fees, hosting, third-party services, marketing, and ongoing maintenance. Then there's your time. Apps don't build themselves, and even if you're outsourcing everything, you'll still need to be heavily involved in planning, feedback, and decision-making.
Beyond the Build
Here's what catches most people off guard—the ongoing costs. Your app will need updates, bug fixes, new features, and server maintenance. Apple and Google regularly update their operating systems, which means your app needs to keep up. That's not a one-time cost; it's a recurring expense that many people don't budget for.
The Team Question
Do you have the right people around you? If you're planning to manage the project yourself, do you understand enough about app development to make informed decisions? If not, you might need a technical advisor or project manager. Don't forget about post-launch support either—someone needs to handle user feedback, monitor performance, and coordinate updates.
Create a detailed budget that includes at least 12 months of post-launch costs—hosting, updates, marketing, and support. Most successful apps spend 2-3 times their initial development budget in the first year alone.
Be honest with yourself about what you can realistically commit. Under-resourced projects rarely succeed, and it's better to wait until you're properly prepared than to launch something half-finished.
Conclusion
Building a mobile app without asking these seven questions first is like trying to bake a cake without checking if you have flour—you might get something at the end, but it probably won't be what you wanted. These questions aren't just boxes to tick; they're the foundation that everything else gets built on.
I've watched countless app projects stumble because someone skipped the hard questions at the start. They had brilliant ideas and plenty of enthusiasm, but when it came time to launch, they realised they'd missed something fundamental. Maybe they couldn't explain why anyone would choose their app over the fifty others doing something similar. Or perhaps they'd spent months building features that sounded clever but didn't actually solve real problems for real people.
The good news is that taking time to answer these questions properly can save you months of work and thousands of pounds later. It's much easier to change your approach when it's still just ideas on paper than when you've already built half an app that's heading in the wrong direction.
Don't rush this bit. Talk to potential users, research your competition, and be brutally honest about your resources. Some of your answers might surprise you—and that's perfectly fine. Better to discover these things now than six months down the line when you're already committed.
Remember, every successful app started with someone asking the right questions. The apps that fail? They usually skipped this part and jumped straight to the fun stuff. Don't be one of those stories.
