I've conducted a small survey to identify a probable market for a problem before started building anything, and it turned out to have mixed results.
Like 55%-45% split.
How do you decide whether a problem is big enough solving?
Like if Uber wanted to launch, what kind of survey would they even put up? Hail a taxi, but it's someone's car and they'll treat you better than a professional? Also it'll be safer than a licensed, regulated taxi.
Gmail: Would you like 1 GB of email storage vs Microsoft's 5 MB? (and it's free, filters spam better, and has a better UI)
Steam: Would you like to buy games for an average 4 times cheaper, and download them fast, legally when you feel like it? The CDs won't scratch and you can own the games on any PC with internet access.
Instagram: Would you like a shareable photo album that is infinitely cheaper than Photobucket with unlimited storage? Oh, it makes you prettier too.
If you can ask questions in a survey, that don't make people suspicious, maybe you're not aiming high enough.
In that case, don't worry about the market - infact, having just a few dozen paying customers who can be fit in 1 to max 3 personas but those that you understand very well, can reach well and get immediate feedback from is very important.
> I've conducted a small survey to identify a probable market for a problem before started building anything, and it turned out to have mixed results.
- How exactly did you conduct the small survey?
- What kind of questions did you ask?
- Did you use a form or conducted 1:1 interviews?
- How did you source the participants?
- What was the motivation of the participants?
> Like 55%-45% split
split of what?
Is your solution a whisper idea? Or can you share it?
Where n is the number of instances of the problem, m is price the market will pay for solving an instance and c is the cost of solving it.