Member Avatar for thinguyenhalu

Good Morning All, I am looking to develope a new product and I am needing software, hardware and an app developed. I have no idea where to start and I thought I would reach out for advice.

  • 4 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 357 Views
  • 8 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rproffitt
Reverend Jim commented: Lazy. -3

Dani AI

Generated

Thread started by asked for help building software, hardware and an app. The replies hit useful angles: asks for specifics, cautions about hiring a full team too early, and reminds us people matter. Below is a compact, practical roadmap that fills the thread's gaps - focused on fast validation and low-cost prototyping for mixed hardware+software products.

Start with two crisp artifacts: a one-sentence value hypothesis (who, problem, promised benefit) and a one-page "core flow" that shows the single user journey that must work. Design three cheap experiments to test that flow: a clickable UI mock (no-code), a single landing page with email capture or preorder, and a simulated hardware demo (off-the-shelf dev boards or fake sensor feeds to emulate the device). Run 5-15 quick user trials or interviews and measure one clear metric (signup rate, task completion or conversion).

If experiments show signal, draft a tightly scoped MVP: pick 2-3 must-have features, write acceptance criteria, and split work into 2-4 week milestones. Choose a build path by risk and budget: learn and build a vertical slice yourself; recruit a technical cofounder with clear equity and role definitions; or hire a small contractor for an initial sprint. When outsourcing, insist on working demos, source-code handover, basic IP assignment, and fixed milestones rather than an open-ended retainer.

Two practical cautions: hardware increases lead time and cost (PCB, tooling, certifications), so keep hardware simple during validation and defer custom boards until demand exists; and informal or unpaid teams often fizzle—formalize responsibilities, deliverables and vesting. A validation-first approach reduces waste, clarifies first hires or partners, and turns opinions into measurable decisions in the direction and suggested.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Howie Mandel in his early stand-up comedy days.

  1. OK. Now we're going to do some improv.
  2. Give me an occupation.
  3. Give me a place.
  4. Give me a location.
  5. Now give me some funy things to say.

If you want help with something specific then post a specific question. Don't ask us to do all the work for you.

Member Avatar for Dani

He’s not asking for an app to be written for him or for us to do all the work. He has an idea and wants some advice on what next steps could be.

I’m on my phone so I’ll follow up with you a bit later. In the meantime, letting us know your level of experience in programming would be helpful to helping me to fine tune a response for you.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

To me that's team building. You need people to join your endeavor that have background in those areas or a "product manager" that sources what you need. If you go it alone, you may take longer as you learn how to develop products. Teams make it possible to reduce that time. And if you don't want to be a product manager then you get one of those too.

Member Avatar for Dani

Hiring a team from the beginning is a horrible and excruciating expensive business strategy. First find product-market fit. This means creating a minimally viable product and proving that there is interest in using it. If you don’t have the skills to go it alone, outsource to a small dev team or consulting firm. But, please, do not hire a team. Your business is too immature to know exactly what aspects will be most time consuming, the difficulty level of each component, who the first hire should be, or even what skills to look for. Otherwise you may find yourself hiring a bookkeeper only to find out months later that invoicing and accounts receivable only takes an hour a week.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

To add to my reply about a team. There are teams that you don't hire. Look here and DANIWEB has folk that team up to help out.

The story of software apps and games where there is a team that is unpaid repeats quite often.

As to myself, I've been on both types of development and can share my preference for a solid team. Doesn't matter if they are paid at first or not, it's the people and skills of the team that can really make it work.

That said, I've also seen the lone developer struggle, not add anyone to their team and years later still struggling.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.