It takes humility to ask for feedback and turn it into better products, but that is exactly what the most successful founders do. Customer feedback utilization has led to some of the most handy tools we use today, including the "skip intro" button on Netflix and Instagram's focus on photo sharing.
LEGO's crowdsourcing platform, LEGO Ideas, shows how this works at scale. In its first ten years, fans submitted over 26,000 product ideas, and 23 became real LEGO sets.
Successful Founders Test Ideas Early
There are a couple of ways most founders go about building a company. The first route involves sitting down and writing a long business plan and developing your product in secret. The second involves testing ideas as they arise, gathering customer feedback, throwing out the ones that fail, and developing better products as a result.
The second route is more often the key to founder success. As we live in a world where 75% of startups fail, founders ignore customer feedback at their peril.
You Don't Need an Army of Testers
Many founders skip testing because it sounds expensive. They imagine hundreds of testers all on a per diem, draining every last cent from their already limited coffers. However, it doesn't have to be that way.
The reality is that most of us are not developing life-saving medical treatments. We're trying to develop products that fill a need and are user-friendly. Research by NNGroup, who are experts in enhancing user experience, found that five testers is sufficient for most qualitative usability studies.
In fact, a strange thing happens the more testers you add. You get fewer and fewer insights, because the same things keep being repeated again and again. The other benefit of only using five users is that you can gather information quickly and return to the drawing board to make better products.
Savvy Customer Feedback Utilization
It's important to understand that during the product development and testing process, testers may not tell you directly what you need to fix. They may say that battery life is an issue when, actually, they find it hard to charge. Or they may ask for more settings when they're really confused about the ones you already have.
Take some time, ask the right questions, and dig a little deeper. Find out what the tester was trying to do when they got frustrated. That could help with interpreting the results more intelligently and improving product features more effectively.
Make Changes Fast
As you improve your product, you need to work with product development services that can match your pace. A partner who already understands your designs and goals can turn around new prototypes in weeks, not months.
So take the time to find the right fit, and you'll be able to implement changes and bring your product to market sooner than you imagined.
Build Better Products Faster
Five testers and a great product development partner could be all that stands between you and better products. Whether you're developing your first or fiftieth product, customer feedback never goes to waste. Check out our other articles for more great insights into the world of business and more.
This article was prepared by an independent contributor and helps us continue to deliver quality news and information.