Flutter App: PotatoVerse — Ideation

Many of you may be unaware that in November 2021 the potato won best vegetable for the 318th year in a row. Talk about an unbeaten run. Before this streak, it was 212 years in a row. Apparently, there was that one strange year in the middle where the carrot managed to end the potato’s streak. However, the potato isn’t the one to stay down. What a comeback! Are the other veggies even trying? (I am not up to date with the 2022 stats but with such a strong reputation, I am sure the potato still retained the crown).

But I can’t say I am surprised though. The potato is one of the most versatile ingredients out there. It can be made into any dish. And I mean, any! From starters to desserts. You name it! There are some one trick wonder veggies out there — but the potato ain’t one.

Thus, to pay homage to this wonder veggie, I’ve decided to create a fun little app for the mighty potato. You’re actually going through this process with me. And I hope we’ll stick it out till the end. #PracticeMakesProgress

Part 1 — Ideation

The first step of any app development process is usually ideation. This is where you brainstorm and come up with an idea that you wish to bring to life in the form of an app. Some of the things you might want to consider during this ideation phase in order to launch a successful product include:

1. Value — What value does/will your app give to the users? For an app to be successful and lock down the users, it needs to bring value to them. Whether it’s simplifying a problem, entertainment etc. Always conduct user research before developing a product. You might develop a very awesome app but no one wants to use it.
2. Current problem — If the app is bridging a gap and solving an existing problem, then the app will just sell itself.
3. Competition — Are there other apps doing what you’re doing? Is your app unique? It’s 2022 though, is there really an app idea that hasn’t been explored and executed? At times, I think there’s nothing new under the sun. Yet, there are new apps being published on a daily basis. Perhaps we just aim at finding missing features in existing apps and executing them better? Just a simple UI tweak might make an app better than its exact counterpart.
4. Trends — By studying the current market trends you can tell what the users are consuming at a given point in time.
5. Money — How will you profit from the app? Will it be from advertisements, in-app purchases, subscriptions etc.

For the PotatoVerse app, we really haven’t gone through a proper ideation phase. It’s just a creative app for us to learn more about Flutter app development. We already have our app idea — potatoes. Also, our idea is pretty simple and there might not be longevity in it per se.

So what do we want this app to look like? What features should it have? The main ones I can think about include:
1. All potato recipes we can think about
2. Potato news — shortages, price hikes, any other contest wins etc

We can start with those two for now and build on them as we move.

Technologies:
1. Flutter.
2. Backend. Serverless? Firebase?
3. Data. Public APIs? Python? (Manually scrap the data we need)

I will document the journey as I go. And I hope we can be able to get to the end with a decent and exciting app.

“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”
― A.A. Milne

As always, thank you for reading ❤