#1 Product, UX, & Entrepreneurship Idea
Guest Contribution
I have professional conversations everyday around product management methods, UX, behavioral economics, and how best to build products. Today was no different, but I felt the need to state something that everyone in business as a product manager, UX pro, or entrepreneur should know. As originally seen on LinkedIn:
Knowing the problems and pain points of your customers is crucial, but that information is superficial.
To build a product users love, we need to dive deeper.
We need to understand the emotions and visceral reactions users experience before they make the decision to start searching for an answer.
We need to know what they are going through before they decide to google a solution.
What leads to that initial feeling, the initial domino?
We need to understand the underlying reasons behind the cascade effects. We shouldn’t be interested in treating the byproducts or symptoms of the underlying problem.
We need to treat the underlying issue and solve the true problem.
With that said, let’s run through a little thought exercise.
What was the worst experience you had today?
Think about it. Really think about it.
At some point in the day you probably had to deal with someone or something that didn’t meet your expectations. In what ways did the performance of the person or thing not meet your expectations? What set your expectation level?
What were you feeling and thinking leading up to the interaction with said person or thing? Why were you thinking and feeling that way?
What were you looking to accomplish? Why?
What were you feeling and thinking during the interaction? How about after?
Did your feelings and thoughts shift dramatically, gradually, or not at all? At which point in the process did the shift take place?
How can you apply this to your work?
- Find potential customers or users that are currently using a substitute to your business.
- Walk them through the general process above.
- Let it marinate and attempt to not be a sociopath, and actually empathize with their pain.
4. Hypothesize how your company might solve the problem.
5. Test your hypothesis.
6. Rinse & repeat.
End goal: To not be a knucklehead that builds a product and then tries to fit customers to their product.
In the worst case scenario, you learn more about a customer and how to better serve them. I know. Crazy. Right?
About the Author:
Mike is a Co-founder of AngelLoop?—?an investor management platform for startups and portfolio management tool for their investors. He is a product ninja, data junkie, startup fiend, and we’re pretty sure he was once Lawrence of Arabia…You can find more of his writing on The Loop.
Also connect with Mike on Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
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#1 Product, UX, & Entrepreneurship Idea was originally published in AngelLoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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