Considering I'm a solo dev, how can I go from idea to design to development to an MVP. A detailed roadmap would be preferred. Also, please answer this in a technology agnostic context.
There are no good resources on web on this topic for a solo dev. So, I'm asking the Hashnode community to answer this or provide me with good resources.
Steven Ventimiglia
Creative Technologist & Sr. Front-End Developer
From personal experience: You are David and the MVP will still be comparable to Goliath. However, stay focused on doing the most you can (defeat a giant), but with as little as possible (a slingshot and stone.)
Prepare, Plan, Perform, Perfect.
In your case, I would prepare by analyzing any products that would compete with yours. From design to development, you want it to have that quality that hasn't been previously applied to anything like it. For what type of device? In what type of language? What type of OS? What's your target demographic? Also, get all your pricing together, etc. and see if there would be an unexpected roadblock in what's about the be planned. At this point, you want to cherry pick branches for a custom tree you will be building, from the other trees in a vast forest of options.
Once you have a solid understanding of what you will need to accomplish, and have found something that will fill a niche in an affordable way, it's time to plan. Be strict with yourself. From color scheme, to pre-processors and/or frameworks, to your server, to the way you intend to advertise - it's now game time - however, you are absolutely allowed to re-prep. Simply because planning is the break-down of your project into tasks and sub-tasks (which need to be completed for the entire task to be pushed forward.) There should be no backstepping after moving forward.
If this was a meal - You figured out what you were going to eat, then gathered, seasoned and trimmed all the ingredients. Now, it's time to perform the work that's needed for the end product. There should be zero restructuring, since this was already done in the last stage. Make that meal.
Since you have produced everything by performing what was prepared and planned... it's now time to perfect. The trick is that this brings you back full-circle to preparing for your next round of additions and changes related to the current product that's now live. Rinse, repeat - and keep it lean.