Hello there! This article is for software engineers, entrepreneurs, CTOs, builders. I’ll share a set of questions I adopted from Harvard University, I answer them before starting any new project. These questions could be adapted to other fields such as design or fashion so it’s of value to creators.
Before I get to the questions, the title says “… before building CoCo AI” and not “... before building a new project” because I’ll be using CoCo AI, my new project as a case study for a series of articles I’ll be writing documenting the build process from scratch. I’ve built apps previously and for CoCo AI I want to share as much of the process as I can.
I say from scratch, but CoCo AI has a bit of a history already which I’ll share now. CoCo AI started out as Content Strategist AI, born out of a need I had personally which was to maintain social media presence for the apps I build.
Content Strategist AI was built as the backend of a google doc. The google doc had a simple form and a user would fill the form giving details about their business and Content Strategist AI would generate a content calendar alongside content ideas for different platforms.
Several people tested this MVP and the idea was validated. Now is the time to bring this solution to as many individuals leveraging their personal brand online and every business leveraging their online presence and every social media manager out there.
Thus we arrive at CoCo AI presently, before building this project here are the six questions I answered.
Content Strategist AI a.k.a CoCo AI
Mobile Application using Flutter, Gemini API, FastAPI
Question One
What will my software do?
CoCo AI will help brands build content calendars for optimal social media presence and also generate editable and best content ideas.
Question Two
What features will it have?
Auth, Generate content calendar/content ideas, Analytics, Deep Linking
Question Three
How will it be executed?
Flutter (Frontend), Gemini API (AI capabilities), FastAPI (Backend)
Question Four
What new skills will you need to acquire?
Coding the backend as opposed to using a BAAS
Question Five
What topics will you need to Research?
Deep Linking from CoCo AI to social apps
Question Six
What might you consider to be a good outcome for your project?
Complete and launch initial version before the end of Dec 2024
Question Seven
A better outcome?
Win top prize at NotJustHack thanks to this project
Question Eight
Best outcome?
Paying users by the end of the year.
There you go folks, the six important questions I answered before starting CoCo AI and other projects. Question seven and eight are offshoots of six and the title and subtitle also need answering combining these we get the six important questions.
It's important to note that these questions help you have a clear bigger picture of your intentions, how you get there, and what you’ll need to get there. While you execute, numerous challenges will come up but you’ll have a better chance if you start well.
Thanks, you’ve come to the end. If you made it this far I thank you very much! In the next article I’ll share the wireframe design and the philosophy behind it. I’ll be sharing my little but necessary design knowledge importantly applied at the beginning of CoCo AI and any other project.
Till then, Bye.