How I Almost Reinvented the Wheel: Learning the Value of Market Research

We all have million dollar ideas that we swear will become the next big thing. I am no different and this is a post about the valuable lessons I learned when trying to pursue one.

It was sunny day in May and my mind was racing as it often does. My brain was particularly stuck on one issue. I had recently tried out habit tracking to minimal success and was trying to work out how I could do this with less friction. My current approach was inspired by a video I watched and it involved taking a page in a notebook and writing a number per day in the month down the margin of it. On the far right side of the page at the very top I would write different letters representing each habit I wanted to track for that month. The idea was that I would write a sentence about each day and then make a mark under a letter if I completed its corresponding habit. It started off well, but unless I had the notebook in view at all times I would forget to fill out the habit tracker on a daily basis. This turned into a situation where I would comeback to it once every three or four days and guess at which habits I completed for each. Obviously this method was extremely flawed, and I wanted to find a better way to do it.

Finally after letting my mind mull it over for a while I had the eureka moment. I decided that this method of habit tracking would be better suited as a mobile app. Every time I open my phone I would be reminded to complete each habit, and fill out the habit tracker. I could utilize push notification and other utilities native to the phone to be much more consistent. Of course the ideas couldn’t stop there. After even more brainstorming I was going to build an app that gives you fun titles and the coveted fire emoji with a number next to it corresponding with your current habit streak. I also wanted to allow users to make groups with friends to compete with each other to add social pressure in to the mix. I imagined having leaderboards for competition, and much much more. I was going to be rich.

I quickly called my sister excited to get her read on the idea. She agreed it was a good one and encouraged me to get to work. I started researching how mobile app development worked and the tools I would need to get started. I decided I would create it on IOS since I have an iPhone and ultimately this app was going to be for me. I began designing the basic user interface, and working out the initial user experience in Figma. I even came up with some names, and created a table comparing all planned functionality in order to determine what was required to create a minimum viable product. I was determined to build this app.

After hours of work over several days, I remembered that I skipped a step. I loaded up the IOS app store and typed “habit tracker”. I clicked on the first app I found literally named “Habit Tracker” and to my horror all the innovations that I thought were clever and ground breaking were bundled into a pretty package with a nice bow on top. The app solved all the issues that I had in the first place. I couldn’t help but face palm at the entire situation.

What’s the lesson here? For starters, had I taken the thirty seconds to do my market research I would have saved myself hours of work. This of course does not mean you should quit whenever someone else has the same idea as you and beats you to the punch. There are billions of people on this planet, there is a good chance someone else will always have an idea close to yours, maybe even a better one. So what do you do? The difference maker is all in the execution. Instead of brainstorming the app from scratch, I could’ve analyzed Habit Tracker and other competitors, looking for their strengths and weaknesses. I could use this data to iterate on the idea and carve my own path in the space. In fact there is a lot of power in coming into the game late, a lot of the tedious AB testing has already been done, allowing you to get right to what the consumers want. Companies like Dollar Shave Club and Liquid Death proved that you can find success in a market as old as time with just a clever marketing campaign and a decent product. Logan’s Habit Tracker could have come out with an improved UI and all the best features from every app in the niche. I could have ran a widespread marketing campaign with a catchy jingle attached to it and it’s quite possible it could have been successful.

All of that said this was the end of the road for me. After careful consideration I decided that the app served the purposes that I needed, and that I did not have interest in pursuing the idea further. Sometimes its just as useful to know when to pivot or even stop all together in order to not waste your time pursuing a dead end. Going forward when considering the creation of a service or product, preliminary market research will be one of the first steps I take, and hopefully after reading this it will be one of yours too.

Whiteley’s World Blog,

Logan Whiteley

PS: In the middle of writing this post I asked ChatGPT to create a catchy marketing jingle for a habit tracking app and the results are terrifyingly good. It almost makes me concerned that this is ripped off some dead habit tracking website somewhere on the internet. Here are the results:

ChatGPT’s Marketing Jingle for Habit Tracking App

(Upbeat and catchy rhythm)

Verse 1: Hey there, let's get movin', Got a dream you're pursuin'? With our app, you’ll see the change, Your life's about to rearrange!

Chorus: Habit Track, Habit Track, Keep your goals right on track! One step, one day, Watch your bad habits fade away!

Verse 2: From fitness to learning, For every goal you're yearning, Log it in, stay on top, With Habit Track, you’ll never stop!

Chorus: Habit Track, Habit Track, Your best self's comin' back! Every goal, every day, Track your way to a brighter day!

Bridge: You got the power in your hands, Build your future, make a stand! With Habit Track, you'll soar high, Reach your dreams, touch the sky!

Final Chorus: Habit Track, Habit Track, No more slippin' through the cracks! Step by step, come what may, With Habit Track, you’ll lead the way!

Outro: Download now, don’t delay, Make your habits shine today! Habit Track, it’s your guide, For a life you wear with pride!