Special Thanks to @arvidkahl (Author of Zero To Sold and The Embedded Entrepreneur ) for sharing these key points to consider during @beondeck ODNC2.
Building products these days is quite easy with different tools that are available to make your work easier. It is difficult to figure out What to build? What problem do people have? Here are some approaches which you can use to generate ideas (From Arvid Kahl).
Instead of building something directly and regretting it that nobody is using it validate your idea with an MVP. With an MVP you can test your idea on a small subset of your target market. It's better to discover that there's no market for your product now, rather than once you've invested a lot of money in it.
The goal is to see what they think of the idea and if they're interested in it. This is a great way to make sure that you're building the right product.
Many Assumptions = Little validation
If you need to generate ideas yourself, you're already off track. You're too focused on yourself and not your users. Ask yourself who are the people who are using your product and why they're using it. Who is the core user of your product, and what outcomes do they want to achieve with your product? The answer to this question is your unique value proposition. This is the essential reason why your business exists and what your company can uniquely offer.
First, you need to find out what problems people have and what problems your product can solve. If you don't know what the problems are, you can't solve them! So, talk to other people and find out what they want and need! Then, make sure your product will solve those problems.
More Validation = Less Assumptions
It puts real people and their problems at its center, thus it becomes easy to build upon the idea.
There are 4 stages of an Audience-First Business.