Make Your Product Fly! 4 Methods to Involve the Customer.

Many a great product idea has come and gone because “it didn’t fly.” Well, it happens, I guess. But I also know it doesn’t have to. Here’s how.

I have worked on quite a variety of products. I’ve managed many projects to develop, maintain, and improve them. And I’ve seen organizations come up with ideas for super cool features, which… never really made it. While this can definitely have a variety of reasons, there is also a pattern. The later you involve the people who are supposed to actually use the product or feature, the higher the risk of failure. It’s as simple as that. So, let’s look at 4 methods to bring the customer into your organization, your product, your ideas.

Do Customer Research (duh!)

I mean, okay, this one is kind of obvious. But you’d be surprised how often this doesn’t happen. To build something for your customers, you need to understand your customers. And by that, I mean really understanding them. Not just looking at the numbers (which, of course, is important, too), but also asking the why behind the what. Why are customers using a specific feature all the time? Why do they close the app after 5 seconds? Asking these questions will already give you a well of inspiration for improvements, new features, or even completely new products & services you can offer. But don’t stop here. Once that lightning bolt of inspiration strikes don’t just run off and start building. Instead, run it past your (potential) customers again. This brings us to the next method.

Oh, and one more thing. I have stopped counting how many times “there was no budget for user research.” I understand the initial investment might seem expensive. But – and this is a huge but (not a yes and!) – I can’t stress often enough how much resources it will save you in the long run. But let’s just for fun say, there truely isn’t any budget for research. You can still make it happen. How? Ask your friends and family! Share your idea at dinner. Reach out to your network on LinkedIn and ask them for their feedback on an idea you had. Connect with people in local communities. Go to conferences and pitch it to everyone who can’t chug their flat white quickly enough. Constraints, like having no budget, are the real enablers of creativity. You just need to embrace the challenge.

Run an MVP Past Your (Potential) Customers

And by MVP, I really mean a minimal viable product. We all want to be perfect, I get it. Thus, we wait until a product, feature, or idea is “ready”, “done”, or “right” before we show it to its potential users. The thing is, on the way to “perfect,” we miss so many opportunities to get real feedback telling us that we’re actually on the right track. It should be old news by now, but just in case: the sooner you show, test, and discuss your product with the people who will use it, the better. It will save you time, money, and a lot of frustration. It will also make sure you create a higher-quality product that meets your customers’ needs. Which, in turn, means they will actually buy it, enjoy it, and tell their friends and family about it. Yay!

In case you’re not convinced, here’s an example. Let’s imagine an insurance company had this super cool idea of providing a “parents starter pack” to first-time parents. Because they figured that becoming a parent for the first time is exciting but also scary. So they want to support parents and give them all the backing they need. Sounds great, right? Well, when actually talking to parents, it turns out that none of them would have had the headspace to even think about insurance when they just had their first child. They were way too busy with everything else that comes with having a baby. The point along their parenthood journey where they do, however, think about life insurance is when they get their second child. They already know what to expect (🤓) and are more relaxed about the challenges ahead. With another kid on the way, the need to ensure the future of their kids also becomes greater. Clearly, a much better point in time to support them with an insurance offering. Thus, by discussing the very first MVP (nothing more than a few sketches and lines of text) with their target audience, the company understood when was the right time to talk to parents about their product. And they did so before spending a whole lot of time, money, and energy and then wondering why no one has the headspace to think about their product.

If you find this example interesting, check out episode #347 of Guy Raz’ podcast How I Built This. In this episode, Jennifer Fitzgerald talks about how she built Policygenius, a marketplace for insurances, and how involving & understanding the customer was part of their success story.

Have Someone Represent the Customer

Obviously, you can’t have your customers in the room with you all the time. Or can you? Actually, why not? Or at least, -ish. One method I’ve used a lot is to have someone from the project team represent the customer throughout the entire product development process. The effects this simple method can have are huge. But there are also a few things to keep in mind if you want this to be successful:

• This person needs to know the customer exceptionally well. In an ideal world, they will have been part of the initial user research, have created the user personas, and know their needs, desires, fears, and pain points.
• They need full authority and backing from the entire team to represent the customer. If they’re not heard or overruled at every discussion, there’s no point in this role, and frustration will arise.

Sometimes, the project teams are very small or it might be hard to find a customer representative within the team as they’re also biased as an engineer, designer, or manager. In this case, an alternative could be to get someone from outside the project team to come in at key meetings and represent the customer.

Bring the Customer in at Every Stage

No matter which stage in the development process you are, it’s always enlightening to bring the customer in (even, or especially so, if your product has been up, running, and selling for decades). And there are many ways to do this.

• Invite (potential) customers for a co-creation session.
• Bring some quotes from the customer research interviews into your next workshop. It’s so simple, yet so effective. Who can argue with “it’s the customer who said so, not me 🤷‍♀️”?
• Create user personas, print them out, and hang them in your workshop room or pin them on your digital collaboration board.
• Create a video about your users (of course, it’d be ideal to interview real customers and let them tell you about themselves) which everyone from the team can go back to at all times times.

4 Powerful Methods for Involving the Customer in Your Product Development Process

Alright, with that, you now have four effective methods to involve your customers and successfully develop and implement your product ideas, creating remarkable customer experiences! Here’s a quick summary of them:

1. Customer research is essential — do it!
2. Don’t wait for perfection — test your MVP early.
3. Assign and empower a customer representative to keep the customer in the room at all times.
4. Involve customers at every development stage.

If you’re hungry for more tips or need a helping hand in crafting a stellar customer experience strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d love to have a chat!