Gathering Feedback on your Minimum Viable Product

by Sean Boyce

The next step in the process of gathering feedback from customers is all about testing your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). We’ve previously conducted our Problem Interviews to identify a problem worth solving and our Solution Interviews to validate that our solution resonates with our target market. Our objective at this point is to confirm with our target customers that the simplest version of our product (MVP) solves their problem and is straightforward to use.

Test the conversion process

The interviewees are told that the product is almost ready to be launched, but that before it is you would like to show it to them, get their feedback, and if they are interested, allow them to have early access.

Start by showing them your website landing page while you ask questions. You will want to know if the product is described well, and what they think of the landing page. If the benefits and features of your product are not immediately understood and appreciated by your early adopters, you will know that the landing page will be ineffective when presented to new customers. This is why you need to pay close attention to the comments you receive during this process.

Test the pricing

The next hurdle is the pricing page, where you will ask your prospect about your pricing model. What does the interviewee think about it. Listen carefully for anything that might indicate apprehension to purchase. This issue is separate from the design of your product, and more about its actual value to the customer.

Signing up

Finally, ask if your prospect is interested in trying your product, in which case they should click the link to sign up or buy. You want to watch closely how the signup page is navigated, because here is where you are examining the user’s experience on your site. Any glitch in the process is yet another issue to address before your final product launch.

Diving into the product itself

Lastly, you will want to put your product in front of your target customers. Watch as they click around your prototype or clickable wireframes to see what their experience is like. Are they smoothly transitioning from one area of your product to another? Are they confused as to how to do anything in particular? Give them all the time they need to figure things out and ask questions along the way. Don’t help them unless they are stuck. You want to find out what is going on inside their head as they use this version of your product. Take detailed notes during this process so you’ll know what areas could stand to be improved.

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Follow up

After the sale is made you want to ask the interviewee about the entire process, and if they could suggest any improvements. You also want permission to follow up after the customer has had time to use the product.

What have you learned?

After this interview, you should be able to identify three major areas in which issues might need to be addressed: the effectiveness of the presentation of the product, the perceived value of your pricing structure, and the ease of use of your website and sign up functions. Any problems that are found in these areas must be fixed before your product is launched. You should also have a reasonably high rate of conversion to sales, because the group you interviewed at this stage were invested early who had previously expressed a high level of interest in what you have to offer. If you cannot sell your product to these people in a 20-minute face-to-face interview, you are not likely to be able to sell to a new prospect who is being introduced to your product for the first time.

If you have a product idea that you’d like to bring to the world, NxtStep can help you turn that idea into a successful product business. Lean more by booking a free product strategy call today or send us an email at hello@nxtstep.io.

 

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