The Secret to App Success: Uncovering the Core Problem
Some apps blow up overnight, while others barely get a single download. What separates the best from the ones that fade into obscurity? Spoiler alert: It’s not just marketing. The real game-changer is solving a single, well-defined problem exceptionally well.
Apps like Uber revolutionized transportation by addressing the core issue of finding a reliable ride quickly. But how do you pinpoint the core problem your app should tackle? Let's break it down together with real-world insights and lessons learned from some of the best apps out there.
Why the Right Problem Matters More than the Right Features
Before writing a line of code, ask yourself:
“What’s the ONE problem this app is fixing?”
That’s your core problem, your North Star. If you get this right, users will keep coming back. Every successful app has one core problem, making it the go-to solution when that problem arises.
Let’s dive into how you can find your core problem:
Steps to Identify Your App's Core Problem
1. Research Your Market
To solve a real problem, you need to know your market inside and out.
What is your target market struggling with?
Where are current solutions falling short?
What is annoying, time-consuming, or inefficient?
Take Airbnb, for example. Their founders stumbled on an idea when a conference left hotels packed and overpriced. What if travelers could rent out someone’s extra space instead of having to stay in an expensive far away hotel? It started as an experiment—with air mattresses and breakfast included, hence Airbnb—and turned into a travel revolution. The founders knew their market so well that they proved their idea and changed travel accommodations forever.
2. Talk to Real People (Seriously, Do It)
You can’t build a great app in a vacuum. Get out there and talk to your potential users.
Surveys & Interviews: What frustrates them the most?
Focus Groups: What do they think of your idea?
Beta Testing: Can they see themselves using your app regularly?
At Unleesh, we’ve seen firsthand how crucial early user feedback is. It builds relationships and makes sure you’re on the right track before you spend months developing something nobody wants.
Look at Spotify– back when buying music was expensive and piracy was rampant, they asked a key question: Why do people pirate music? The answer? Convenience. Instead of fighting piracy, they set out to make streaming music faster than illegal downloads. All it took was a lightweight desktop app that took out the buffering on streaming music, and voila– users didn’t look back.
3. Define Your Value Proposition
Once you’ve identified the core problem, it’s time to craft a clear value proposition. What makes your solution unique? How is it better than the alternatives?
Let’s look at Venmo’s value proposition. Simply put, Venmo creates effortless digital payments. A simple problem—paying friends quickly and easily—was stuck with complicated solutions like bank transfers, cash, and checks. Venmo disrupted this by creating an SMS-based payment system that required nothing more than a phone number to send and receive money, making peer-to-peer transactions instant, seamless, and social.
4. Prioritize Problems (Yes, You Need to Choose Just One)
It’s tempting to solve for everything at once, but that’s a proven recipe for failure. Focus on the one problem that:
Has the biggest impact on your audience
You can solve better than anyone else
Is feasible to build right now
At first glance, you’d think Duolingo’s biggest challenge was making language learning accessible by creating a mobile app that anyone could use. But they realized something else came first: motivation. By building an app that makes learning fun and addictive through streaks, experience points, and bite-sized lessons, they found the secret sauce that keeps users engaged. People wanted to come back each day to play, and once they could prove that stickiness, it was easy to tackle accessibility by offering their app for free.
This strategic prioritization allowed Duolingo to rapidly scale, driving mass adoption before monetizing through premium features. Their success highlights how solving the right problem at the right time can turn a niche idea into a globally dominant platform.
5. Validate Your Core Problem
Start with a simple prototype to test your hypothesis. Focus on real user interactions to gather feedback and refine your idea, ensuring your app directly addresses the core problem before scaling.
Here’s how successful companies tested their ideas before committing:
Airbnb proved people would pay to stay in someone’s home by renting out their own apartment.
Spotify built a lightweight desktop app to test whether instant, buffer-free streaming would attract users away from music piracy.
Venmo started with SMS-based payments, confirming that users wanted a faster, simpler way to pay friends.
Duolingo launched a simple web app where users played basic translation games, testing engagement and gamification elements before monetization.
By launching small, gathering real user feedback, and iterating, they reduced risk and built products people actually wanted.
Conclusion
The biggest mistake new apps make? Trying to do too much. The best apps—Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, Venmo, Duolingo—all started with one core problem and nailed it.
If you’re building an app, start here:
✔ Identify the core problem.
✔ Research your market.
✔ Talk to real users.
✔ Define your value proposition.
✔ Validate before scaling.
Do this, and you’ll be on your way to building an app people actually want—and one they’ll keep coming back to.
So, what’s the ONE problem your app is solving?