How many users does it take to validate a product?
When you're a first-time founder/maker, and you're the only person using your own product, you probably overlook important things. That's why you need to test the product with as many people as possible.
The problem is that time is limited. You have to decide not only how many people will test it, but also who those people should be.
Yesterday, I launched my Chrome extension for the first time publicly, and my goal is to get feedback from at least 20 testers.
People either describe their experience in writing or I watch them use the product during a call.
My testing group consists of:
Developers and UX/UI designers – people with experience who understand common patterns and expected behavior.
People who have the problem the tool solves – my potential users.
If both groups point out the same issue or suggest the same improvement, it almost always becomes a top priority in the roadmap.
What makes feedback relevant to you?
The number of testers?
The mix of respondents?
Or the way the feedback is collected?
Finding: Developers were able to give me detailed and more accurate feedback than users itself. Developers spotted many things, recommended things while user said: It's okay. :D
Replies
ProblemHunt
Nika, wow — releasing your own product that solves your own problem is truly commendable, because that kind of thing is rare. And considering that most people only think about doing something but rarely follow through, you actually managed to take your product to release. That's awesome, keep it up 👏
And I hope you get so many users that it becomes a "new problem" for you — in a good way 😄
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@gostroverhov Thank you! One of your problems on the website of the @ProblemHunt made me to realise that this issue is going beyond me and more people struggle :D it gave me courage. :D
UXDesigner.top
I've been working for a couple of months in a tool for designers and product teams (BenchCanvas). Right now it is in private beta with 400+ people on the waitlist and ~150 using the product, I've interviewed around 20 of them and based on their feedback, I've been able to build a stable version of the product.
I still feel like I need stronger validation so I'm now talking with product and design teams at a few companies to bring them on as "design partners" and run a more rigorous test of the product and turn the experience into a case study when launching publicly.
If anyone here is part of a design/product team and wants to give it a try, just reply here :)
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@david_martin_suarez How did you collect those peope for the waitlist?
UXDesigner.top
@busmark_w_nika First, I built a nice landing page with a video demo, examples of the main features, and a simple form to join the waitlist. Then, I started talking about the project on Reddit, Product Hunt, and in Slack and Discord communities, but mainly on LinkedIn, which I think has worked best.
One of my biggest learnings was that it’s much more effective to talk about the building process and share examples through animated GIFs and product videos, rather than simply asking people to sign up.
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@david_martin_suarez This is solid, I do not have a page at all. :D But it is on my list after fixing the basic things :D
@busmark_w_nika @david_martin_suarez Can I ask what discord communities and reddit? I am very curious to learn more myself honestly.
@david_martin_suarez I would love to hear more about that. We might be able to help.
UXDesigner.top
@myrto_p Sure! Sign up to the waitlist here https://www.benchcanvas.app/ so I can send you more details :)
@david_martin_suarez done, used my business email. Looking forward! :)
UXDesigner.top
@myrto_p Got it! I sent u an email :)
@david_martin_suarez I’m not part of a design or product team, but I’m currently preparing to launch my own product and looking for ways to validate it properly before going public. I’d really appreciate your advice on how to approach this and what you’d recommend testing with early users. Would be happy to learn from your experience!
UXDesigner.top
@aruna_polosofttech Sure! let me know how can I help you!
@david_martin_suarez What preparations would you do before launching a product and also to make the launch successful? Request your insight.
UXDesigner.top
@aruna_polosofttech Building a solid base of beta testers before a launch is crucial for two main reasons: first, it allows you to refine and polish the product based on their feedback, and second, it provides a dedicated group of supporters you can lean on to share, upvote, or amplify your launch across social media when the big day arrives. To provide some context, for my own project, BenchCanvas, I am aiming to secure at least 500 beta testers before the official public launch
I think the quality of feedback often matters more than the number of testers. A hundred users who don’t have the problem you’re solving may provide less useful insight than ten users who deeply experience the pain point.
I also like the combination of expert users and target users you mentioned. Experts can identify usability issues and broken patterns quickly, while actual users reveal whether the product creates real value in their workflow.
One thing I’d add is that feedback should be weighted by behavior, not just opinions. Someone saying “this is interesting” is very different from someone repeatedly using the product, integrating it into their routine, or asking for a missing feature. Early validation is not only about collecting feedback — it’s about finding signals that people would genuinely miss the product if it disappeared.
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@stephanie_t0317 How can I then track how "real users" perceive the tool? Because sometimes they do not know how to describe it as they do not have a background in UX/UI or development? Like heatmap integrations or?
@busmark_w_nika you need to follow up with question that will make them open up and try speak their language instead. I know it is hard, especially when you are not coming from a UX or research background, but this is the only way to get feedback that will help your product solve real user problems. Maybe partner up with a uxer for the first rounds of interviews so they can guide you?
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@myrto_p Good point, maybe I will since good UX/UI can improve performance :)
Hi Nika, congratulations on launching your chrome extension. I just found out that people only test your product when there is an incentive. They might read about it and move. How did you get 20 testers for your extension, I am interested because I have a chrome extension I need to launch too? Taking a product from founder to many users is a challenge but I think the number of users does not necessarily validate the product. I see validation as reviews and how many feedbacks you actually receive from any user. Obviously as your user base grows then you will be able completely validate your product. In the meantime if it works for you and the few users, your product works! That's what counts. No business idea is fully formed at the beginning, it evolves and grow.
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@richatsealedvault Hey Richard, I was talking about the problem on LinkedIn (because I was restricted there) + PH threads + DMed people (this one proved to be the strongest one).
@busmark_w_nika oh wow! I had no idea LinkedIn could do that. Glad things worked out for you on PH. Thanks for sharing this experience.
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@richatsealedvault Definitely try DMs, but be careful with LinkedIn limits for sent messages :)
@busmark_w_nika Thank you Nika. I surely appreciate the information and caution.
Your finding might be pointing at something other than developers being better testers.
Developers critique products for a living, so "here is what is wrong and why" is their native format. A regular user has no practice at that, and when you ask them to evaluate, you put them in a role they never signed up for. "It's okay" is not the absence of a signal. It is politeness covering a signal you cannot get by asking.
Which makes the unit different per group. Developers you can measure in what they say. Users you have to measure in what they do, and the honest number is not how many tested it, it is how many opened it again on day two without you prompting them.
Of your 20, how many came back unasked?
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@abdullah_javaid3 Do you mean how many kept the plugin? Because I cannot see this data yet in the dashboard, they are refreshing after 48 hours.
@busmark_w_nika Not kept, used. Kept is passive, an extension nobody ever opens again still counts as installed, because uninstalling takes a deliberate trip to the toolbar that most people never bother making. Install retention will flatter you.
The number I meant is the one where someone triggered it again on a different day without you asking. Same person, second session, no prompt from you. Twenty testers who each used it once is a demo. Three who came back on day two is the first real signal you have.
When the 48 hours are up, is per user session count something the dashboard will actually show you, or only totals?
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@abdullah_javaid3 I think that the dashboard can show you the patterns over time – how many downloaded in total, uninstalls, how many keep using it. But it is not accessible at the moment.
@busmark_w_nika Downloads, uninstalls and weekly users are counts of the store. None of them is a count of a person coming back. Weekly active gets closest and still hides it, since twenty people who opened it once in a week and twenty who opened it every day can land on the same number.
That number has to come from inside the extension. Fire one event on activation with a random id kept in local storage, then count the ids that appear on two different dates.
The 48 hours will give you a shape. It will not give you a cohort.
For me, it's definitely the mix of respondents and how feedback is collected.
Developers and UX designers are great at spotting technical bugs and edge cases, but actual target users show you real behavior and willingness to use/pay. I find that watching users interact during a call (qualitative) gives much deeper insights than just written surveys!
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@abusaid_islam_said Where would you recommend me to find those users who has restriction experience? Because when they were restricted, they usually go to other platforms and donot wanna have anything with LI.
@busmark_w_nika To find users who faced LinkedIn restrictions, check Reddit (r/LinkedIn or r/sales) and X (Twitter) by searching for 'LinkedIn restricted'.
People usually complain on those platforms right after getting blocked. B2B outreach and lead gen communities on Slack/Facebook are also full of people dealing with this exact problem!
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@abusaid_islam_said But will not be a bit invasive? :D
@busmark_w_nika Not if you focus on helping rather than selling!
People who just got restricted are usually looking for advice or a place to vent. If you reach out asking about their experience or offering feedback, it feels like a helpful conversation rather than cold spam.
Depends on the kinds of tests, and the results :)
If you're looking for usability tests, ie. people to use your chrome extension and give specific feedback on design, UX or features - then as little as 5 people can be enough if* you're seeing very consistent patterns in their feedback.
If clear patterns are not emerging yet, keep gathering feedback (20-30 should do it). If you aren't seeing consistent feedback that's usually a signal that something is wrong in the test methodology - perhaps the mix of respondents is too varied, the questions or interview is not consistent or something else.
And a best practice when it comes to getting product feedback is watch what people do, not what they say... We often underestimate how hard it is to articulate our experiences, and how common it is.
Developers undoubtedly may have a more trained eye for product improvements, but if they are not your target user then you must siift through the "it's okay" messages!
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@samim_safaei It is already happening, at least 3 or 4 people agreed upon the same thing that was not correct, I am fixing it :D
@busmark_w_nika nice, that's a good sign :)
Congratulations on the launch, Nika! The most important kind of feedback, in my opinion, is structured and detailed. I collect feedback on my platform (ArtfulAsthetics) through a reporting modal that collects the title, description, and severity (a scale of how much it frustrates them). Then, I can sort them from greatest to least by severity. Although I don't have much experience building Chrome extensions, I'm sure you could add a button/form for users to report any issues they encounter.
I'm sure those on LinkedIn will be grateful for the extension! :)
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@jett_bialek Thank you so much! I inserted a form with the feedback. :)
I believe quality matters more than quantity. A small group of thoughtful testers from different backgrounds can reveal more than hundreds of superficial opinions. For a knowledge project like AURELIA, I value feedback that challenges the framework, questions assumptions, and helps improve clarity. When both experts and general readers identify the same issue, that's usually the strongest signal to act on.
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@foued_sendi How did you get your tsters? :)
@busmark_w_nika For AURELIA, the validation process is a bit different because it is a knowledge framework rather than a traditional app.
I started by documenting the system, structuring the ideas, and sharing the work publicly to receive feedback from people interested in technology, systems thinking, and knowledge creation.
I don’t focus only on the number of testers. I look for readers who question the framework, identify unclear parts, and help improve the structure.
For early-stage products, I think the most valuable feedback often comes from people who genuinely care about the problem you are solving.
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@evertmar I wrote to you on LinkedIn.