Focus, focus, focus. Then continue to focus. In the freshest of emerging markets like the iTunes App Store and Android Market, your team has to eliminate variables in order to succeed. The first variable that we should collectively eliminate is: Price. Start with the one thing that your app does better than any other app, and focus on polishing that feature until it shines at the $0.99 price point. Charge a dollar because you can deliver that one feature faster, at a higher quality, to more people than if you'd waited to add things and charge more money later. Your one-dollar-app will help you bootstrap your two-dollar-app, and on upwards over time. Begin with a dollar because there are certain expectations that users have, once they pay just a little bit of money for something. Don't charge too much, or expectations could be inflated. Ship just enough software that your customers recognize value. One dollar can get you valuable feedback and praise, where two or three dollars may get you wishful thinking and complaints. In this talk, Dom describes lessons learned from HP Labs, the MIT Media Lab, Twitter, and Adobe Systems about the value of simplicity and a focus on the mobile market. Case studies include work with the Obama '08 iPhone App team, and the San Francisco-based iPhone Apps company DollarApp.

1. The Dollar App
A Strategy of Simplicity and Focus

2. Why a Dollar
• Focus
• Focus
• Focus

3. Focus on Design
• Surf culture
• Ocean metaphor
• Niche markets

4. Focus on iPhone
• iPhone is a lightning rod
• iPhone is a lens
• iPhone is a learning device

5. Focus on Users
• Demand: 50m
addressable devices
• Supply: 75,000+ apps
• 1.8b app downloads
• 76 countries

6. DollarApp Principles
• Do one thing better
than anyone else
• Ship as quickly as
possible
• Embrace The Tier 1
price on the iTunes App
Store
(US$0.99)

7. DollarApp Mission
• Empower the self-starter
• Create a framework for
describing an idea
• Guarantee simplicity
and focus

8. Mark Twain
•“I apologize for writing you a
long letter, but I didn’t have
time to write a short one.”

9. Great Design
• is supported from the top,
and all the way up
• comes from small teams
• comes from constant focus
on design
• means pixel-level perfection
• means saying “no” to 1000
things
• is at least 50% of success

10. Obama `08
• 22 days
• 10 people
• Total secrecy
• #7 Free App
• Over 41,000 phone calls

11. Obama `08 Demo
• Call Friends
• Get Involved
• Local Events
• Media
• Issues

12. Big Words

13. Big Words
Edit on launch
Remember last edit
Spanish, Italian,
German, French
Landscape
Info

14. Big Words
Edit on launch
Remember last edit
Spanish, Italian,
German, French
Landscape
Info

15. Big Words
Edit on launch
Remember last edit
Spanish, Italian,
German, French
Landscape
Info

16. Big Words – $0.99
Edit on launch
Remember last edit
Spanish, Italian,
German, French
Landscape
Info

17. Math Cards

18. Math Cards
• Add, subtract, mult, divide
• Touch-and-hold
• Grade-as-you-go
• Overall grade
• Info apple

19. Math Cards
• Add, subtract, mult, divide
• Touch-and-hold
• Grade-as-you-go
• Overall grade
• Info apple

20. Math Cards – $0.99
• Add, subtract, mult, divide
• Touch-and-hold
• Grade-as-you-go
• Overall grade
• Info apple

21. Math Cards Demo
• Add, subtract, mult, divide
• Touch-and-hold
• Grade-as-you-go
• Overall grade
• Info apple

22. iTunes Staff
Favorite
Big Words – February 2009

23. iTunes Staff
Favorite
Math Cards – February 2009

24. App Store Front Page

25. Spike

26. #3 Paid
Education App
Math Cards – March 2009

27. iPhoneDevCamp (2007)

28. iPhoneDevCamp 2 (2008)

29. iPhoneDevCamp 3 (2009)

30. iPhoneDevCamp 3 Satellites
• Portland
• New York
• Munich
• Ukraine
• Austin
• 20+ other HD locations
• 1000+ viewers, live via
iPhone & iPod touch

31. 140 Characters
Coming in October
from
John Wiley & Sons
+
DollarApp

32. Thank you
San Francisco, California

33. Contact
• @dom – dom@dom.net
• @dollarapp – dollarapp.com
• @thebook – 140characters.com
• @iphonedevcamp – iphonedevcamp.org