For any type of business, a thorough market research is needed to tell you if the intended project venture is good or not. There are many sites that you can obtain market info and on many subjects.
One such site is www.mobilephonedevelopment.com. It has vast amounts of market research just on mobile phones and their apps. The research posted on this site is mostly done by big corporations which means that the data found on this site is valid and accurate.
1. Social Forums
Many ideas on phones and apps as well as complaints about them are found in social forums that target mobile users and developers. The complaints and comments from users are great in terms of feedback as it will tell you what not to do with your app, what not to buy, what brand is good and so on. Users and developers will also tell you what you should avoid when creating your app due to design complexity and programming tool restrictions. Most of these targeted social forums are free and you only need to register to participate in them. One such forum is www.cnet.com/forums/mobile-apps/.
2. Focus Groups
Another avenue to get ideas is through focus group gatherings. These groups should be represented by age, gender, profession and other relevant demographics.
The analysis and results from these focus group gatherings will help you determine where your intended target group market lies. It can also show what type of app is popular, which brand of phone is the best with current models, how big is your intended market and what price level is acceptable. These focus groups will also tell you what is good about different apps, what is lacking in them and what is not good about them. You will now have insight into what is good, what is missing and what to avoid when designing an app for the mobile market.
To learn more about focus groups and how to run them, go to
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-focus-groups/main
