Assuming you want to build an App that you want to launch as a product/service, and you are not undertaking this enterprise for fun, there are different approaches you can follow.
We've done quite a bit of product development so we approach working on this project in a couple of phases. If you are doing it as a learning project probably some of the steps below are a bit of an overkill but it make still a good exercise.
Phases
- Idea
- Pre-launch
- Requirements
- Wireframing
- Design
- Development
Idea
The first thing you need in order to get started is an idea. There are many ways to come up with an idea (like looking at Google search trends, starting with your needs, etc). One of the best ways to get a lead is to just become aware of human behaviour in certain situations. How are people acting at events? What are the challenges that hair dressers have? How can doctors manage the relation with their patients better?
Once you have a basic idea it's important to understand who your users are going to be and what is the value proposition of your App.
For this part I recommend you have a look at Business Model Generation and the Business Model Canvas as a very simple way to start working on the difficult questions like target customer, unique selling points, etc.
Stay tuned for the next post!