Market research / user interviews
Brittany Partridge
8 replies
How important do you think these are? How many times have you had to refine the problem statement? How big is your survey sample? What was the moment where you're like yeah, I know what exactly to build?
I'm just creating my questions and about to start asking - would be great to hear your experiences!
Replies
Marianne Métairie@mariannemet
User interviews are in my opinion essential, without talking to your user i don't think you can achieve the main goal. they are necessary not only from a product point of view but from the company itself and the direction you are going to take.
It will save so much time to you and your company.
Surveys are a good thing, but I personally prefer to talk with my users, maybe put a prototype in their hands and understand how they would use my product and where they struggle.
Share
@mariannemet1 what did you find challenging about building a prototype before market research? or did you do market research first?
@brittany_partridge After identifying the main problem, I start interviewing users to talk about their struggle, what were their thoughts, etc. It helped when building documentation and scoping the project. Prototyping was then easier.
I came up with 2 prototypes and did A/B testing. I interviewed some of the people I spoke in the first round but I also wanted new people. Turned out that what we discussed with the 1st batch suit really well the users that were seeing the new prototype for the first time.
@mariannemet1 I know what the main problem is for me, but I need to do pre-product user interviews to figure out what the main problem is for other people then I can go into my product user interview questions. A/B testing a prototype sounds like a really smart idea to compare, ill def keep that in mind
@brittany_partridge Ok, I got a few questions for you. Is your product live already and you looking for solving problems to improve it or are you at the first stages of creating your product?
If your product isn't live yet and if you do not have prototypes yet then maybe just an advanced survey could help you to have good insight from potential users.
If you already have prototypes, then 1:1 video calls with potential users will considerably help you to understand what would be their issues using your product. Walk them through your prototype giving the most freedom possible and ask them to accomplish a task thinking out loud. Do not intervene too much to let them make mistakes. You will understand what is and isn't clear in your product and will be able to rethink it.
@brittany_partridge Market research and target audience interviews are ABSOLUTELY essential and you will likely go through dozens of refinements to the problem statement as you progress. As far as the survey sample goes, try to speak with at least 20 people in your directly addressable market. Ask them how they solve the issue that you're trying to solve - what are they doing right now? How is it working for them? What do they like about their solution? What do they dislike? What would they invent if they could? Get them to imagine the dream app or solution (doesn't have to be an app!). @aprildunford once said to me, "Your biggest competition is usually a spreadsheet and/or an intern." :)
@aprildunford @missrogue right now, im trying to figure out who that audience is! I have great questions for later on but I feel like im back peddling to get to the first questions - know what I mean?
@aprildunford @brittany_partridge That's tricky! Have you built use-cases for your product? What are you solving with it? It sounds like you may run the risk of building something that is too broad? I, of course, don't have much information! Feel free to email me - my first name at trulyinc dot com.