A couple of weeks ago, I decided to show a relative of mine my new startup. He is an entrepreneur, which makes him a part of my target market. I was excited to show him my Earth shaking, paradigm changing web site that was going to save the economy by enabling entrepreneurs to grow their businesses faster and create thousands of new jobs over the next few years (This is a demonstration of my passion, not my ego).
There was only one problem. When he saw it his first impression was: “What the heck is this?” and somewhere during my explanation, I found us talking about my beloved and battered Philadelphia Eagles. When I reflect back, I realized I stumbled upon a valuable lesson in entrepreneurship, and product development in general: As early and often as you can, watch someone in your target market use your products or services. The earlier you start, the easier it is to tweak, refine, and improve.
This was again brought to my attention last weekend when I traveled to Disneyworld on an unnamed airline. As I was taking off my shoes, removing my belt, and leaving my dignity in a basket to be scanned by an X-ray machine, all I could think about is “When was the last time the CEO of (unnamed airline) traversed the process of booking a flight in coach, checking in bags, paying an extra $1 for water, and arriving late at his final destination, all the while knowing the guy sitting next to him paid $25 dollars less?” If only he had used his product or watched someone use it recently, then I wouldn’t be holding my pants up, walking in socks on a cold floor, watching my bags being ripped apart to find that bottle of liquid that wasn’t in a 3 oz. bag.
I would love to hear your thoughts on products that could have been made better, if only someone had watched it in use. Also, what does your business do to continuously enhance the user’s experience?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Chrysler’s advertising for a hybrid SUV could have been made much better. They can even “watch” a prospect fiddle with it (me, linked above) but they probably do not care what is out there for the world to see.