How to Gather Audience Feedback for New Products

Only 4% of all software products are successful. But what do the 96% get wrong? I’ve worked in this space for over 2 decades, and I’ve noticed a concerning pattern. Most product owners and entrepreneurs are missing a trick. They rely heavily on second-hand feedback — think surveys, incident tickets and the works. But they don’t often witness their product in action, in real life. Here’s what I’ve found to be a game-changer: Grab a front row seat to watch just twenty customers using your product. Invest in first-party market research in the form of beta-programs and focus groups. Be present at these events, and observe the people using your product. DO NOT delegate this task to anyone else in your team. Why? Because you will: - See how people react and interact with your product. - Uncover friction points they never thought to mention. - Grasp their secret desires, fears, frustrations, and hopes. The depth of feedback you’ll get from minor things like their body language, usage patterns and ease of use will be unparalleled. This unfiltered insight into your product’s real-world utility will directly impact the relevance of your product, and help you improve rapidly. #softwareproducts #entrepreneurship #productbuilding

I spent 8 years helping tech companies solve conversion problems. In my experience, the best way to figure out why an important area of your growth model doesn't convert better (and get actionable ideas for how to fix) is with user testing. Basically, you want to show your [thing that's not converting well] to people who represent your buyers. Then ask them open-ended questions to understand what would stop them from moving forward. You can do this manually (by asking people in your audience and/or email list to give you feedback. Or, you use paid services like Wynter or Conversion Crimes to shortcut the feedback cycle (and are relatively cheap). Two things to keep in mind 👇 1. Make sure to survey people who represent your buyers (and not your well intentioned friends/family). You can set specific parameters using the tools above. 2. Ask open-ended questions. Here's a few that have worked well for me: - Can you describe what you believe this [product/service] is? - Who do you think this [product/service] is for? - Is there anything that distracts you or is irrelevant? - What might stop you from moving forward and [using/purchasing] this product? - What information, if anything, do you feel is missing? This process will help surface things that are unclear, missing, and distracting and will lead you towards impactful changes!

Stop wasting time for users/customers by asking them to get on unnecessary calls. I'm not saying don't solicit feedback from them. I am saying that it might not need to be a call. I recently emailed a 3-min Loom to 10 users walking through an upcoming Continuum product update and asked them whether they had any concerns or feedback on the direction. I got 7 replies within 48 business hours. We're 2-3x smarter on their perspective and already put a thematic piece of feedback into action by killing one aspect of the flow that concerned multiple respondents. One of them specifically called out how efficient it was to solicit product feedback this way. I still have calls too but Looms have become my go-to for getting quick pulse checks about upcoming product changes. You should try it out.

Collecting feedback is a catalyst for your growth📈 I must confess I'm feedback-obsessed. Every time I conduct a workshop, run a personal consultation, or finish the last lesson of the course with my students, I ask for feedback. A well structured request for a feedback provides a valuable insight on: 🟣 How your product looks and feels like from your audience's perspective. 🟣 The most engaging topics/aspects. 🟣 What insights people gained and how they plan to implement them. 🟣 The most helpful aspects and skills people acquired. 🟣 Areas for future improvements. 🟣 Ideas and suggestions how to make it even better. So, how to shape a feedback request for insightful analysis? Here are my tips: 🟣 Start by defining metrics for opinions. What exactly do you like to know? 🟣 Combine quantitative and qualitative questions. 🟣 Use 360-gree questions 🟣 Encourage a focus on personal progress, comparing before/after. 🟣 Group questions by meaning. 🟣 Ask people to be honest. 🟣 Provide context at the beginning of the questionnaire why and how this feedback is important to you. 🟣 Ensure a space for free-form comments for people to write about whatever they want after they answered your questions. What is your secrets about feedback? How you are handling it?

Great products aren’t born, they're iterated. How I turned feedback into product gold at Kraftful. At the start of this year, I pivoted Kraftful to address a challenge that had been a constant in my product management career: how to harness all forms of user feedback. From app store reviews to support tickets and user interviews to survey data - I wanted to hear it all. This pivot was a game-changer. Here’s my approach post-pivot: 👂🏻Comprehensive Listening: I started incorporating diverse feedback sources into our product development cycle. This meant not just listening to one or two channels, but all - user interviews, support tickets, in-product surveys, social media DMs, etc. 🧠 Identifying the Core Message: Amidst this sea of feedback, I learned to find the consistent themes. These are the true insights that can guide meaningful product changes. I was lucky to be able to use Kraftful to identify that core message. 💻 Iterative Development: With a more holistic understanding of user feedback, our iterations became more impactful. We were tweaking features and overhauling interfaces based on a complete picture of user needs. 💫 Continuous Feedback Loop: This new approach turned feedback into a continuous cycle, enriching our product development process and making our iterations far more effective. This pivot taught me that great products evolve through a relentless focus on user feedback, no matter how vast and varied it might be. Feedback is your most valuable resource in krafting™ a product that resonates ✌️ The photo is from our YC Demo Day, long before this pivot. #Kraftful #productmanagement #AI