Pre-Validate Your Idea
š”Ā Learn how to make sure users will actually pay to use your app
Pre-validating your SaaS idea is a crucial step before diving into full-scale development. This will help us determine if this idea is worth pursuing or not.
What we are doing here is getting a few basic designs of what it could look like and then going out and getting feedback from your target audience.
1ļøā£ Create Initial Design Mockups
- Simplify Your Core Idea
- Focus on the core functionality that solves the primary problem your SaaS addresses. This keeps your validation process narrow.
- You donāt need to showcase all the possible bells and whistles, simply show the primary solution to the problem.
- Design Key Screens in Figma
- Create designs for the main user interface screens. This might include the landing page, dashboard, and a couple of key features. The goal is to make these designs visually appealing and easy to understand
- Here are a few examples of this being done by our friend Brett from DesignJoy.
- https://twitter.com/BrettFromDJ/status/1758195809911521597
- https://twitter.com/BrettFromDJ/status/1759994240250298530
- Here he is pre-validating his idea by sharing what it could look like and the problem it solves.
- Go through and read the comments and you will see how powerful this really is.
2ļøā£ Gather Feedback from Target Users
- Reach Out for Feedback
- Share your Figma designs with potential users. This can be done through one-on-one meetings, email surveys, social media groups, forums, or any platform where your target audience congregates.
- Donāt just share publicly and wait for feedback, go out there and get it as well. Reach out to individuals and ask specific questions about it and gather feedback that way as well as sharing publicly.
3ļøā£Ā Iterate Based on Feedback
- Refine Your Designs
- Use the feedback and data collected to refine your designs in Figma. Ensure that problems with your application are tweaked.
- Validate Improvements
- Present your refined designs to a subset of your original feedback group or new potential users to validate the changes youāve made.
Keep in mind that when pre-validating you are speaking directly to future users of your SaaS, not only are you seeking validation but you are acquiring users interested in your solution.