

Ask HN: Help validate this idea - rubycowgames

Idea: Starfall.com for the iPad generation&lt;p&gt;Problem: Kids will learn on mobile devices. Nothing currently exists as an educational &quot;one stop shop&quot;. Parents need a brand to trust.&lt;p&gt;Solution: Educational app system for tablets. Progression based on a child&#x27;s mastery.&lt;p&gt;As a parent of a young child (he is 2 years old) - I&#x27;m constantly searching for new things to help my child develop. He&#x27;s learned a ton from traditional physical toys&#x2F;books and I spend a ton of time playing with him. I know he&#x27;s benefiting from this interaction.&lt;p&gt;At the same time, he&#x27;s exposed to many digital devices (my iphone, ipad, tv, etc). Digital devices are the norm for him. If we skip forward a decade, I imagine that most kids would be learning primarily from mobile devices.&lt;p&gt;There are indie educational apps - things that teach individual learning skills like the alphabet, sounds, or colors. These separate apps when combined together could make up a &quot;cohesive&quot; learning set that provides effective learning progression. But that requires a parent to pick the individual apps and gauge when their child is ready for the next app. Also you have the problem of varying app quality.&lt;p&gt;The other option is a web learning system, like Starfall.com. This is well received and recommended by parents&#x2F;educators - but they are designed for computer use. Kids interact through a mouse and keyboard. But newer generation kids grow up on touch based interfaces. I know when my kid plays with my computer, he&#x27;s always trying to touch the screen.&lt;p&gt;I would pay a small subscription ($3-7&#x2F;month) for something like a khanacademy app for preschoolers. So I figure why not try to make it myself. I&#x27;ve asked friends (who are parents) and they&#x27;ve all said they would buy a sub after they&#x27;ve seen the product. But I don&#x27;t have one.&lt;p&gt;How can I validate this idea?&lt;p&gt;Thanks for the help.
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kkowalczyk
The way to validate it is to create it and see if it works.

Your problem is that the success depends on execution.

We do know that there is market for good educational software. Many successful
apps already validated that.

If you write one more good educational software, chances are you'll be
successful.

However, chances are that your software will not be good in which case no
success for you.

Another problem is that you might be trying to bite more than you can chew.
The idea of comprehensive software product is good but if you try to build
that as your version 1.0, you'll likely fail. Start small and build on your
successes.

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lingoberry
How about narrowing it down to one specific subject at first, try to get pre-
orders (one time fee)? If successful, build it and then repeat. Once you have
enough variation in content you can offer a subscription plan instead of
individual pricing.

I see where you're coming from though, that you want to offer something that's
greater than the sum of its parts, a single place where kids can go. But it's
going to be difficult cracking that chicken/egg problem.

