作者：Scott Bradley

选择应用构思是个既兴奋又沮丧的过程。

持续思考游戏构思后，你就会步入这样的阶段：觉得自己得开始着手落实内容。若你这样做，那么就从一开始就犯下错误。

本文主要探讨生成大量游戏构思的技巧，以及如何去粗取精。

构思一文不值

从商业角度看，你的构思价值很小。其实，在应用问世，你的构思毫无意义。构思的真正价值是在落实过程中形成。要实现构思的价值，就要创造满足需求的产品或服务，然后开展相应营销活动，从中获利。

要转变构思价值，你就得根据当前所具有的时间、资源和技能，给自己的项目确定正确构思。在半年或1年里，你的情境就会发生变化，这让你得以享有其他选择，但现在你需要切实看待自己所能取得的成就。

多数人的构思选择方式

我无疑在此“多数人”之列，所以我并没有排斥这点。只是我们很难凭此实现自己的预期目标。

多数人都是基于自己的预期、热情或兴趣罗列系列项目构思。在经过简要的竞争性分析后，他们就开始着手制作应用。他们通常会在没有开展营销活动或只有进行少量营销的情况下就发行应用，随之而来的就是残酷实况。

你在此投入众多时间和金钱，但甚至连不赔不赚都无法保证。

除能够从中获得些许经验外，你还不如坐在沙发，喝啤酒，看足球赛。

此例子呈现你将遇到的几大问题：

* 构思过于肤浅

* 不清楚需求情况

* 没有瞄准用户及他们的需求

* 没有解决问题/让事情变得更简单/平价/富有趣味性

* 没有提供独特内容

* 用户不理解其中构思或者产品的价值

* 缺乏充足时间、资源或技能，无法将构思落实到位

进行头脑风暴

在此阶段，不区分优秀或糟糕构思非常重要，罗列所有想法，然后再进行过滤。这里秉承的理念是，看似糟糕的构思也许在经过详细分析后也能够发光发热。

很多人会建议你根据自己的兴趣或热情着手自己的项目。虽然这是非常理想的模式，但同时也会限制构思的覆盖范围。基于自己所知晓及感兴趣的内容创造应用不是难事，但这些多半都是竞争性很高的领域。

若你决定投身应用领域，我的建议是：保持虚心态度，尽情进行头脑风暴。

制作电子表格，然后罗列所有构思。

寻找有需求的内容

现在你手中已有包含众多想法的无序列表。目前你需要做的就是排列它们的顺序。

网站管理员常常通过搜索引擎的流量情况判断用户的搜索内容，这能够有效呈现内容的需求情况。理想情况是，我们能够查看应用商店的搜索流量，但目前这缺乏可能性。

网站搜索流量依然能够有效判断需求情况。我的看法是，若用户在网页搜索此内容，那么应用平台也会存在相应的需求。你可以通过Google Keyword Tool获得网页搜索流量。

将关键字输入此工具，收集系列关键字的搜索流量。基于这些结果更新电子表格。你可以以此判断各构思的相对需求情况。

现在你可以基于搜索数量将列表内容分类。先从搜索量最多的关键字着手，然后逐一进行分析。

注意：只以网站搜索流量作为参照。查看相对需求情况意义显著（游戏邦注：例如XXX的搜索情况胜过YYY）。

分析——查看竞争情况

下载iTunes或Android应用商店，输入关键字。在电子表格中记录所获数据。

竞争应用的数据非常重要，因为用户倾向选择出现在搜索结果顶部的应用。若你排在第201位，那么作品被浏览的机会就微乎其微。

你可以创建热图，以此获悉搜索量高但竞争性小的关键词。

优先将目光锁定在这些内容上，因为它们有可能脱颖而出。

分析——判断适应性

现在你手中握有若干构思，这些内容具有市场需求，且竞争性小。将自己的关注点集中于此。

在此阶段，你需要考虑自身情况，以及自己所要解决的问题是否有意义：

* 你拥有什么技能/资源及多少时间

若为突显某关键字，你需要制作3D游戏，而你从未涉猎过此内容，那么这显然不是好的选择。

* 这是否满足需求——让事情变得更简单/更平价，或者是否富有趣味

优质构思能够解决问题。若应用所要解决的问题不明确，那么其多半很难获得成功。

* 选择有把握执行的构思

这和第1点相似，但值得重申。综观全局，包括营销活动。执行方式多种多样，所以在确定构思前权衡其中利弊。从简单内容着手，然后再逐步深入更复杂的内容。优质构思无需错综复杂。

我从项目托管中学到此惨痛教训，我决定自己撰写所有内容。我当时的竞争对手是采用开放源码软件的公司。虽然我没有放弃自己的全职工作，但我将全部的业余时间都用于落实基本功能和修复漏洞。我尚有欠缺的地方是没有投入充足时间开展营销活动。

其他构思

我所推荐的方式只是其中一种。你还可以尝试其他构思：

* 记录糟糕元素

在工作或家庭生活中，若你觉得某内容非常烦人或颇具难度，将其添至列表中。移除障碍元素的理念显然契合“简单化”原则。

* 记录自己的财务情况

你可以浏览自己的家庭和工作银行账单，寻找你觉得价格不菲的物品。若你觉得自己有可能“降低开支”，将其添加至自己的列表中。

* 查看App Store评论

在android应用商店中，你可以查看应用的大致下载量。若下载量达数千次，那么用户对于这类应用就有一定的需求性。若应用获得的评价不高，那么它需要再接再厉。阅读评论，查看用户的需求。

总结

在着手任何新投资项目时，构思非常关键，但遗憾的是，很多人都没有遵循合理选择模式。建立广泛种子列表，然后判断相对需求、竞争性及自己的执行能力，这些都能够有效缩小覆盖范围，从而提高项目成功可能性。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How To Pick A Good Idea For Your Next App

by Scott Bradley

Choosing an idea for your app is an exciting and frustrating time.

After spending what seems like forever thinking of ideas you reach a point where you feel you should just start on something. If you happen to pick a lemon your journey begins on the wrong track from the start.

In this post I will take you through some techniques for generating a much larger pool of ideas and then how to filter that list to find the diamonds in the rough.

Your Ideas Are Worth Nothing

From a business perspective your ideas are really only a small percentage of the value. Actually, before the app exists your ideas are worth nothing. The real value is generated in the successful execution of that idea. To take that idea, create a product or service that meets a need and to market it for a profit.

For your idea to go from nothing to something you need to choose the right idea for your business given the time, resources and skills you have available to execute on it at this point in time. In 6 months or a year your situation may change which will open doors to other options but right now you need to be realistic about what you can achieve.

How Most People Choose An Idea

Now when I say “most people” I was firmly in this category for a while so I’m not bagging it. It’s just less likely to get the results that you want.

The way most people approach choosing an idea is to compile a list of ideas based on their own experiences, passions and interests. With a little competitive research they then start building an app. Often the app is released with little or no marketing and then reality kicks in.

Yikes….. you’ve just invested a stack of time and money into this thing and your still not even sure if you will break even.

Apart from the experience you got from it you would have been better off on the couch with a beer watching the football.

This simple example highlights some of the problems you will face :

* The pool of ideas to draw from is too shallow

* You don’t know how much demand there is

* It doesn’t focus on the customer and what their needs / wants are

* It doesn’t solve a problem / make things easier / cheaper / entertaining

* You don’t offer something unique from the competition

* People don’t know about it or understand why they should get it

* You don’t have the time, resources or skills to execute successfully

Brainstorming App Ideas

During this stage of the process it’s important that you aren’t critical about good or bad ideas, record each and every idea and filter them out later. An idea that you think is a stinker might just shine after you do your analysis.

Many people will suggest that you should start a business based on your interests or passion. While this is ideal it also restricts the scope of your ideas. It’s easier to build apps around things you know and are passionate about but chances are they are also already very competitive areas.

If you are determined to build a business around apps my recommendation is that you keep an open mind and just see where your brainstorming takes you.

Create a spreadsheet and start capturing ideas.

Look For Demand

Now you should have a massive list of very diverse ideas with no way to rank them. What you need is some way to rank them.

Search engine traffic data is commonly used on the web to help webmasters identify what people are searching for. This provides measurable proof that there is demand. It would be ideal if you could see the search traffic for the app store but right now its not possible.

Using the Web search traffic is still useful to determine if there is demand. My argument is that if people are searching for it on the web then there will also be demand for an app. You can get the web search traffic using the Google Keyword Tool.

Enter your keywords into this tool and get the search traffic for your keyword list. Update your spreadsheet with these results. You can use this to help determine the relative demand for each of your ideas.

Now you can sort your list based on the volume of the searches. Start with the keywords with the most volume and analyse each one.

Important: Use the web search traffic as a guide only. It is useful to view the relative demand (ie. there are more people searching for xxx than yyy )

Analysis – Review The Competition

Load up iTunes or the Android App Store and enter in the keywords. Record the number that are returned in your spreadsheet.

The number of competitor apps is important because customers are more likely to choose apps which appear at the top of the search results. If you are number 201 then chances are you’re not going to get much of a look in.

You can now generate a heat map which will show you the keywords that have high volume but minimal competition.

Focus your attention on these first as they are the best candidates for a winning app.

Analysis – Determine Suitability

Now you have a smaller list of ideas where you can prove there is demand and limited competition. Focus your attention on these.

At this stage in the process you need to take into account your own situation and also whether there is sufficient need for the problem you are solving :

* What Skills / Resources / Time Do You Have

If it’s clear for a keyword that you need to implement a 3D game and you have never done one then it’s probably not a good match for you.

* Does It Meet a Need – Make Things Easier / Cheaper / Or Is Entertaining

Good ideas solve problems. If it isn’t clear what problem your app is going to solve then it’s probably not going to be very successful.

* Choose An Idea That You Feel Confident You Can Execute On

Similar to the first point really but worth reiterating. Consider the whole picture including the marketing. There are many different implementation options, so consider the pros and cons of each before choosing an idea. Start simple and work your way up to more complex. Great ideas don’t need to be complex.

I learnt this lesson the hard way when I was doing project hosting, I made the decision to write everything myself. I was competing against other companies who were using open source software. While holding down a full time job all my spare time was spent trying to implement basic functionality and fix bugs. What I wasn’t doing was spending enough time marketing.

Other Ideas

The approach that I have suggested is just one of many approaches. Some other ideas that you can try:

* Keep track of things that suck

During your work or home life if you find something that is very annoying or difficult to do then put it on your list. Ideas to remove this friction clearly meet a “make things easier” need.

* Track your finances

You can go through your home and work bank statements for items which you felt were expensive. If you think there is a possibility for “making it cheaper” somehow then put it on your list.

* Check Out the App Store Reviews

On the android app store you can see approximately how many downloads an app has. If you see there are many thousands then there is a reasonable demand for that type of app. If the reviews for the apps in that niche are getting low reviews there is an opportunity to provide a better app. Read the reviews and see what people want.

Summary

When starting any new venture the idea is critical but sadly most people don’t follow a process which gives them the best chance of choosing a good one. Building a very large seed list and then determining the relative demand, the competition and your ability to execute on it helps to narrow your focus on the ideas with the best chance of success.（Source：freefallapps）