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Start with the problem

Memora and GigBooks started with a clear problem: retrieving a saved detail or understanding business records. Listening to the people facing those problems helped us choose what to build, what the first release needed and how it should work.

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For Memora and GigBooks, understanding the problem came before choosing features. A saved detail is useful when you can find it again. Business records become more useful when you can see how they fit together.

These two apps serve different purposes. Their beginnings show how a clear problem can guide the people we listen to, the decisions we make and the experience we design.

Problem first

We started with a problem written in plain words, the way the person who has it would say it. Not “a memory management platform”, but “I know I wrote down where the spare key is. I just can’t find where I wrote it.” Not “a bookkeeping solution”, but “I finish a delivery shift and I have no idea how much of today’s money is actually mine.”

When we’re solving a problem, that sentence gives the idea a clear purpose.

Then the people

We need to understand who experiences the problem and what solving it would change. What are they doing when it happens? How do they handle it today? What have they already tried?

The answers shape everything that follows. They tell us which platform to build for first, what the app has to do on day one, and — just as important — what it can leave out.

Then design

Only now do we open a design tool. By this point design is not decoration. It’s the shortest path between someone’s problem and the moment it’s solved. Every screen has to move them closer, or it doesn’t ship.

Then we listen again

Release day is the start of the conversation, not the end. Store reviews, support emails, and how people actually use the app tell us what to fix and what to build next. A good salesperson never stops asking questions after the deal closes, and neither do we.

Two apps, different purposes

Memora helps people save and retrieve personal details. Capture a thought by voice, text, photo or screenshot, then ask for the information when you need it. Its Google Play listing describes how it organises memories and answers from saved notes.

GigBooks helps Finnish sole traders organise income, expenses and supporting records. It brings recorded balances and business obligations into one view. Its Google Play listing describes the current features.

Personal memory and business bookkeeping are two directions for the studio. Other apps can begin with different insights, ideas and possibilities. The shared commitment is to understand the purpose and give the experience the attention it deserves.

Questions about this story

What kinds of apps does Insightish build?

Insightish builds apps across different categories. Memora focuses on personal memory and GigBooks on bookkeeping for Finnish sole traders. Each app has its own audience and purpose.

How does Insightish turn an idea into an app?

We start by understanding an idea's purpose and the people it could serve. Their needs shape the scope, platform and design. Memora and GigBooks are two examples of apps that began with a specific problem.

How does Insightish choose what goes into the first release?

We focus on what the app needs to do for the people using it. Understanding their current experience helps us choose the essential features and decide what can wait.

What happens after an Insightish app launches?

We keep listening to store reviews, support messages and how people use the app. That feedback guides fixes and improvements after the first release.

Facts checked