Lilac CreativeMay 28, 2026

Do you actually need an app? 📱

Do you actually need an app? 📱

Lilac Creative

Before building a custom app, ask these three critical questions to determine if you actually need software or just a better process. Save your budget and avoid building the wrong thing by testing your idea with simple tools first.

Do you actually need an app? 📱

Lilac Creative

Before building a custom app, ask these three critical questions to determine if you actually need software or just a better process. Save your budget and avoid building the wrong thing by testing your idea with simple tools first.

Chapters

00:00

Introduction

An introduction to why most app ideas do not actually require custom software development.

01:06

Tool vs Process

02:09

Testing Cheaply

03:31

Long-term Maintenance

04:06

The Vetting Process

05:06

Outro

Transcript

00:00

Okay, this one's fun.

00:01

Most app ideas don't need to be apps.

00:04

I get pitched ideas all the time from nonprofit directors or program staff, founders, friends, my own head.

00:12

The ideas are usually real and the pain is real, right?

00:16

But about 80% of the time, The answer isn't build an app.

00:20

I used to think it was when I was really into vibe coding and I was just starting out, but I soon realized you can get yourself into a hole.

00:30

So here's how I figure out which ideas actually need to be built and which ones are something else in disguise.

00:36

Before I quote anyone for design or development, I run the idea through three questions.

00:43

If it doesn't survive these questions, it does not get built.

00:46

And this isn't because I'm trying to talk people out of work.

00:49

It's because nothing kills small organization's tech budget faster than building the wrong thing.

00:54

okay, question one.

00:56

Is this a tool problem or a process problem in disguise?

01:01

It's usually a process problem in disguise.

01:04

A tool problem is we don't have the right software for this work.

01:08

A process problem is we don't actually know what this work is yet.

01:12

And most app ideas are process problems wearing a tech costume.

01:17

okay, another example.

01:18

A non profit tells me they need an app for volunteers to track hours.

01:23

We talk for 10 minutes.

01:24

Turns out they don't really know what they're tracking, why they're tracking it, or what they'll do with the data once they have it.

01:30

that's not an app problem, right?

01:32

That's a we haven't decided what we care about yet problem.

01:36

Building an app won't fix it.

01:37

It'll just digitize the confusion and leave you right where you started.

01:41

Just maybe a little less money.

01:43

Question two.

01:45

Okay, what's the cheapest version that could test this?

01:50

So before you build anything custom, can a Google Doc do it?

01:54

Can a spreadsheet do it?

01:55

A notion page.

01:57

Those are free.

01:58

An airtable, an email template.

02:01

All of that is free to some degree.

02:04

Most of the time, the answer is yes.

02:06

And teams resist it.

02:07

Because spreadsheets aren't sexy.

02:09

Right?

02:10

They're not fun.

02:11

I'm guilty of this.

02:12

Absolutely.

02:13

But the goal at the start isn't to be sexy, cool, modern.

02:18

Right?

02:18

The goal is to find out if anyone will actually use, like, the thing.

02:22

So here's the analogy I keep coming back to.

02:25

Most people who buy treadmill don't use it.

02:29

The treadmill was not the issue.

02:30

The fact that they weren't walking yet was the issue.

02:35

If you can't get people to walk around the block, you do not need a treadmill.

02:38

I just told my husband this the other day.

02:41

You need to take a walk.

02:43

Same with apps.

02:44

If a clunky spreadsheet does not get used, a beautiful custom app won't either.

02:49

So test it with a spreadsheet first.

02:51

The data that you collect from that test is worth more than any design mock up and question three Question three, who's still here in two years to maintain this?

03:00

This is a question almost no one asks at the start.

03:03

Software needs care and bugs come up, Servers need updating, things crash, people leave.

03:11

If the only person who knew how the tool worked walks out the door, you now have a $40,000 paperweight before you build something custom.

03:20

answer, who owns this in year two?

03:23

If the answer is, we'll figure it out.

03:25

You don't have a plan, you have a future regret.

03:27

So when someone comes to me with an app idea, when I come to myself with an app idea, here's what actually happens.

03:33

First, I ask what the job is, not the app, the job.

03:38

What problem are we solving for whom, and how do we know when it's solved?

03:43

Second, I try to talk them out of building, which might be a surprise to some of my colleagues.

03:49

I'll suggest a spreadsheet or a notion setup, a workflow change, a small automation, something free and easy.

03:57

And if any of those solve it, we don't need to build anything.

04:01

If they push back, if they can show me how the cheap version already failed, that's when we might have a real software project on our hands.

04:08

And I'm totally open to that, but I, will be transparent and let them know I'm not just going to build an app just to do it.

04:14

I'm not going to waste anyone's money.

04:15

It's like a good doctor.

04:17

They try the cheap fix before they try the expensive one.

04:20

And the expensive one is always available later.

04:22

So this is the kind of thing that I keep breaking down inside the Lilac Collective.

04:27

it's a working notebook of short videos and guides and tools and random thoughts from average people like me, using AI.

04:33

Link is below.

04:34

See you in the next one.

Do you actually need an app? 📱 — Tella